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Coronavirus and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) alert
BY ANITA DOMBROWSKI, MBA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, PRESIDENT & SR. HR CONSULTANT, FOURTH DIMENSION ENTERPRISES LLC.
On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) into law. This Act is geared toward those employees who are impacted by the Coronavirus due to personally contracting the virus and those employees who are impacted by the virus due to the closing of their child(ren)’s school or daycare provider. The new rule is limited to direct impact by the Coronavirus and is effective beginning April 1, 2020 and ending December 31, 2020. Paid leave entitlements of the Act include 80 hours of paid sick leave for an employee who contracts the virus and up to 12 weeks of the combination of paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave paid at 2/3 for the following qualifying reasons all related to the Coronavirus. n The employee is subject to a Federal, State or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19. n The employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19. n The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis. n The employee is caring for an individual who is subject to an order as described in the first bullet above or has been advised as described in the second bullet above. n The employee is caring for a son or daughter of such employee if the school or place of care of the son or daughter has been closed, or the childcare provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID-19 precautions. n The employee 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. An employer of an employee who is a health care provider or an emergency responder may elect to exclude such employee from the application of this reason. In general, employees of private sector employers with fewer than 500 employees are eligible for paid sick leave. Employees who have been employed for at least 30 days prior to their leave request may be eligible for an additional 10 weeks of partially paid leave to care for a child whose school or daycare is closed. Please note that the normal FMLA requirement of working for the employer for at least 12 months has been waived as is the criteria for having at least 50 employees before the company must provide the FMLA option. In this situation, employers with 30 or more employees and less than 500 are required to post the poster in a conspicuous place and entertain requests for leave from employees who are impacted by the Coronavirus.
More detailed information can be found at dol.gov/agencies/ whd or 1-866-487-9243. You will find the poster to put in a conspicuous place and some clarifying FAQ's
