Families First Coronavirus Response Act and Paid Sick Leave
Families First Coronavirus Response Act
The Senate, on March 18, 2020, passed H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, FFCRA, amending the Family and Medical Leave Act to extend leave in a “public health emergency.” The new leave provisions, E-FMLA, expands the coverage to more employees, to employers with less than 50 employees and expands the qualifying reasons for absences due to “a qualifying need related to a public health emergency.” However, private businesses with 500 employees or more are exempted from the Act.
The President has signed the bill into law and is effective 15 days after March 18, 2020.
The USDOL Wage-Hour Division is charged with enforcement developing the regulation to provide the details and requirements for employers.
The following is what the FFCRA provides under the E-FMLA:
∙ The E-FMLA is triggered by a declared national, state, or local public health emergency and expires December 31, 2020.
∙ Covered employers include private and public employers as defined by FLSA Section 3(e) including those with less than 50 employees. Virtually all employers are covered.
∙ Exempted employers are private employers with 500 or more employees.
∙ Eligible employees are those defined by FLSA Section 3(e) who have been on the payroll for at least 30 calendar days including those who have not worked 12 months and 1250 hours in the last 12 months.
∙ Provides up to 12-weeks of job-protected FMLA leave (absence from work) immediately with no waiting period for “a qualifying need related to a public health emergency.”
E-FMLA Leave for a Qualifying Need
The law requires private employers with less than 500 employees and public agency employers to provide E-FMLA leave and paid “sick time” during a public health emergency to an employee who is unable to work or unable to telework for the following reasons:
(1) Due to a federal, state or local quarantined or isolation order
(2) Self-quarantined at the request of their health care provider
(3) Experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking medical diagnosis
(4) Caring for a person who was advised to quarantine or self-isolate
(5) Caring for their son or daughter whose school or place of care is closed or their child care provider is not available due to COVID-19
(6) Or the employee is experiencing “substantially similar conditions”
E-FMLA Paid Leave
∙ First 10-days is unpaid leave. The employee, solely at their option, can elect to use their earned vacation, personal, medical, or sick leave. The employer cannot restrict or mandate the employee’s use/substitution of the earned leave.
∙ After the first 10-days, the employer must pay the employee 2/3rds of their regular rate as defined by FLSA Section 7(e)
∙ The maximum E-FMLA sick pay for conditions (1), (2) and (3) is $511 per day and $5110 in the aggregate
∙ The maximum E-FMLA sick pay for conditions (4), (5) and (6) is $200 per day and $2000 in the aggregate
∙ Paid E-FMLA ceases when the employee returns to work and is not banked or carried forward
Special Provisions, Exemptions, and Concerns
The FFCRA exempts employers with less than 25 employees from the job protection provisions but not the paid leave provisions as defined by the Secretary of Labor in the forthcoming regulations. If protecting the job would pose an undue burden on an employer or if the job no longer exists at the conclusion of leave, an employer with fewer than 25 employees are exempted from this requirement and shielded from liability. Details will be forthcoming in the regulations.
Health care providers and emergency responder employers can exclude such employees from the E-FMLA provisions.
The employer can pay more than the sick pay required in the Act. However, maximum payroll tax credit available to the employer is the amount paid not to exceed the maximum plus the cost of employer provided health insurance. Details to be provided in the regulations.
FLSA Section 14c Consumer Employees Paid Commensurate Wages
Since the Act defines employees and employers as defined in the Fair Labor Standards Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act, FMLA, consumer employees with disabilities paid commensurate wages under FLSA Section 14( c) are subject to the protections and paid leave provisions of the E-FMLA just as all other employees. There is no exemption or exclusion in the law for consumer employees in CRPs or sheltered workshops.
Stay Tuned - More Information Coming
We will be monitoring the directives and regulations from the agencies and the interpretive guidance from our law library service daily. We will update our clients via our Facebook page and email. We will place a copy of the Act and/or a link to the Act on our Facebook page and our website, www.MarkKnuckles.com.
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The text of H.R. 6201 can be downloaded from http://www.markknuckles.com/images/PDF_1_20032020160456.pdf
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Mark Knuckles Associates, Inc.
FLSA and HR Management Consultants
363 First Ave SW POB 2246
Hickory, NC 28603
(March 19, 2020, R2)
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