Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Mandatory Poster Just Released

The FFCRA goes into effect on April 1, 2020, and the Department of Labor (DOL) just issued a FFCRA poster (access it HERE) that employers are required to post in a conspicuous location.  This means that employers should probably e-mail out the PDF poster to ensure compliance with the law’s notice requirements.  

            Time for a refresher! 

The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (Emergency PSL Act) covers private employers with fewer than 500 employees and all government employers.

Purpose of Leave

• Employers must provide paid sick leave if the employee is unable to work or telework because the employee:
  • Is under a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19; or
  • Has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine because of COVID-19 concerns; or
  • Is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis; or
  • Is caring for an individual subject to a quarantine or isolation order or advised to self-quarantine because of COVID-19 concerns; or
  • Is caring for a child where, due to COVID-19 precautions, the child’s:
    • school or place of care has been closed; or
    • child care provider is unavailable.
  • Is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor.

Leave Amount

• 80 hours of paid leave for full time employees;
• Part-time employees are entitled to the average number of hours the employee works during a two-week period.
• Leave is available for immediate use, regardless of how long the individual has been employed by the employer. Employers cannot require an employee to:
  • Use other available paid or unpaid leave before allowing paid leave available under this emergency provision; or
  • Find a replacement to cover the employee’s hours or shift before allowing paid leave.
• After the first use of leave, employers may require the employee to follow reasonable notice procedures in order to continue receiving paid sick time. Unused leave cannot be carried over to the following year.

Amount of Pay

• Leave is paid at 100% of the employee’s regular rate and capped at $511 per day and $5,110 in total for an employee who is:
  • Quarantined under a government order or advice of health care provider; or
  • Experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis.
• Leave is paid at two-thirds of the employee’s regular rate of pay and capped at $200 per day and $2,000 in total for leave needed:
  • To care for another individual under quarantine or a child under 18 whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable because of COVID-19; or
  • If the employee is experiencing a substantially similar condition.

Exemptions

The Secretary of Labor is authorized to issue regulations for good cause that:

• • Exempt businesses with fewer than 50 employees from the paid sick leave requirements to employees caring for a son or daughter if the school or place of care of the son or daughter has been closed, or the child care provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID–19 precautions, if providing leave would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern; and
  • Exclude certain health care providers and emergency responders from the definition of covered employee.

** These regulations have not been issued yet, but they are anticipated to be released in April of 2020.  Because these regulations have not yet been issued, the DOL announced that it is going to observe a temporary period of non-enforcement for the first 30 days, so long as the employer has acted reasonably and in good faith to comply with the Act.  “Good faith” means that any violations that are remedied, and the employee is made whole as soon as practicable by the employer, the violations were not willful, and the DOL receives a written commitment from the employer to comply with the Act in the future. 

The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (Emergency FMLA) expands the FMLA to provide paid and job-protected leave to covered employees of employers with fewer than 500 employees. The law also expands coverage by including employees who have been employed by the employer for at least 30 days.

Purpose of Leave

• An employer must provide leave if an employee cannot work or telework due to the need to care for child under 18 years of age if, because of a public health emergency regarding COVID-19, the child’s:
  • School or place or care has been closed; or
  • Child care provider is unavailable.

Leave Amount

• The total amount of available leave is the same as under the FMLA (12 weeks in a 12-month period).
• The first two weeks are unpaid and the remaining ten weeks are paid leave.
• Employees must provide notice to their employers as soon as practicable when the need for leave is foreseeable.

Amount of Pay

• The first ten days of leave is unpaid. An employee may elect to substitute accrued paid leave during that time period.
• Leave after the first ten days must be paid at a rate at least two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay based on the employee’s regular schedule. For each employee, paid leave cannot exceed:
  • $200 per day; and
  • $10,000 in total. 

Exemptions

The Secretary of Labor is authorized to issue regulations for good cause that:

• Exempt employers with fewer than 50 employees if it would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern to provide expanded FMLA leave to employees who are unable to work (or telework) due to a need for leave to care for the son or daughter under 18 years of age of such employee if the school or place of care has been closed, or the child care provider of such son or daughter is unavailable; and
• Exclude certain health care providers and emergency responders from the definition of those employees eligible for expanded FMLA leave.

** These regulations have not been issued yet, but they are anticipated to be released in April of 2020.  Because these regulations have not yet been issued, the DOL announced that it is going to observe a temporary period of non-enforcement for the first 30 days, so long as the employer has acted reasonably and in good faith to comply with the Act.  “Good faith” means that any violations that are remedied, and the employee is made whole as soon as practicable by the employer, the violations were not willful, and the DOL receives a written commitment from the employer to comply with the Act in the future.

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