To qualify for the Employee Retention Credit, an employer must carry on a trade or business during the calendar years 2020/2021. This includes tax-exempt organizations, and the employer must meet one of the following criteria: Experienced a full or partial suspension of operations due to a government-imposed order, which may include capacity restrictions or supply chain disruptions, OR Suffered a significant decline in gross receipts during a calendar quarter, compared to the same calendar quarter in 2019.