Expanded Coronavirus Leave Benefits

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, Effective April 1. Is your business ready?

The new federal law makes important changes to leave policies. These changes are aimed at helping workers who are sick or need to stay home for childcare reasons during the coronavirus threat. 

The paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave provisions of the FFCRA apply to certain public employers, and private employers with fewer than 500 employees. *Most employees of the federal government are covered by Title II of the Family and Medical Leave Act, which was not amended by this Act, and are therefore not covered by the expanded family and medical leave provisions of the FFCRA. However, federal employees covered by Title II of the Family and Medical Leave Act are covered by the paid sick leave provision.
   
Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may qualify for exemption from the requirement to provide leave due to school closings or child care unavailability if the leave requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern.

Business leaders need to quickly become familiar with the provisions of the law, as it could grant up to 12 additional weeks of paid leave to impacted employees. This includes many employers that are typically exempt from FMLA. The good news for employers is that the law requires the federal government to pay businesses for salary expenses incurred while employees are on paid leave.

Learn more using these resources from the Federal Department of Labor:
·    Fact Sheet for Employers
·    Fact Sheet for Employees
·    Questions and Answer for employers
·    Employee Rights Poster

We understand that these are very difficult times and the constant changes in regulations can be complicated to understand. If you have any questions regarding this information, please do not hesitate to contact us.
*Certain provisions may not apply to certain employers with fewer than 50 employees. See Department FFCRA regulations (expected April 2020).