Employee Emergency Paid Leave Benefits Under the Recently Passed Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Passed by Congress as H.R. 6201 and signed into law by President Trump, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) is part of a series of bipartisan bills to combat the economic and other effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The statute – effective from April 2, 2020, through December 31, 2020 – provides emergency paid leave to workers at companies that employ 500 or fewer people.

The law includes two key provisions that impact both employees and employers: the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act. Below is a summary of both of these provisions.

Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act

Employees may take up to 12 weeks of leave to care for a son or daughter under 18 years of age if the child’s school or place of care has been closed, or the childcare provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to a “public health emergency,” which is defined as a COVID-19 related state of emergency declared by a federal, state, or local authority.

The first ten days of leave may consist of unpaid leave. However, an employee may elect to substitute any accrued vacation leave, personal leave, or medical or sick leave for this unpaid leave period. After the ten days of unpaid leave, an employer must provide paid leave for each day of leave that is not less than 2/3 of an employee’s regular rate of pay, up to $200 per day, and $10,000 total.

Generally, employees are entitled to restoration to their jobs after taking leave. However, an employer who employs fewer than 25 employees does not have to restore the employee to his or her job if these conditions are met:

• The position held by the employee when the leave commenced no longer exists due to economic conditions or other changes in operating conditions of the employer that 1) affect employment, and 2) are caused by the COVID-19 state of emergency;
• The employer makes reasonable efforts to restore the employee to his or her job, or an equivalent job, with the same or similar pay and other terms and conditions of employment; and
• If the reasonable efforts of the employer to restore the employee to the same or equivalent position fail, the employer makes reasonable efforts to contact the employee if an equivalent position becomes available. The “contact period” is the one-year period beginning the earlier of (A) the date on which the qualifying need related to a public health emergency concludes; or (B) the date that is 12 weeks after the date on which the employee’s leave commences.

Employers of health care providers and emergency responders may elect to exclude employees from the public health emergency provisions of the FFCRA.

Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act

An employer must provide to each employee two weeks of paid sick leave if the employee is unable to work (or telework) due to a need for leave because:

• The employee is subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19.
• A health care provider has advised the employee to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.
• The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and is seeking a medical diagnosis.
• The employee is caring for an individual who is subject to a quarantine or isolation order or has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine.
• The employee is caring for his or her son or daughter if the child’s school or place of care has been closed, or the child’s childcare provider is unavailable due to COVID-19 precautions.
• The employee is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

For employees subject to a quarantine or isolation order, have been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine, or are experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19 and are seeking a medical diagnosis, paid sick leave shall not exceed $511 per day and $5,110 total.

For employees caring for another individual, a child, or who are experiencing substantially similar conditions specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, paid sick leave shall not exceed $200 per day and $2,000 total.

The paid sick leave shall be available for immediate use by an eligible employee, regardless of how long the employee has been employed by the employer.

An employer may not require, as a condition of providing sick leave, that an employee search for or find a replacement employee to cover his or her hours during which the employee is using paid sick leave.

An employer may not require an employee to use other paid leave provided by the employer before an employee may use the paid sick leave under this section.

Employers must post and keep posted on its premises a notice of the requirements described in the FFRA.

It is illegal for any employer to discharge, discipline, or in any other manner discriminate against any employee who:

• Takes leave in accordance with the FFRA.
• Files any complaint or institutes any proceeding under or related to this Act that seeks enforcement of this Act, or testifies, or is about to testify, in any such proceeding.
• Employers who discharge, discipline, or discriminate against an employee for the above reasons will be subject to civil penalties under the Fair Labor Standards Act.

Employers of health care providers and emergency responders may elect to exclude employees from the public health emergency provisions of the FFCRA.

Consult an Experienced Employment Lawyer

A good employment lawyer will not only represent you but also work with you to understand and reduce the stress of navigating your employee rights, especially during these extraordinary times brought on by the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

If you suspect an employer is violating the Families First Coronavirus Response Act or other federal and labor laws, contact us today We’ll help you evaluate your claim, assess your options, and pursue the compensation you deserve.