On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) into law. Here are some highlights of the Act for employers:

FFCRA

• takes effect: April 1, 2020
• three major provisions for employers:
  • amends FMLA
  • establishes paid sick leave requirement
  • provides for tax credits for employers

Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act

• Employers covered:
  • if have less than 500 employees
• Employees covered:
  • if employed at least 30 days
• Triggering Event for Benefit:
  • unable to work or telework due to need to care for employee’s child (under 18 years old) because child’s school or place of care is closed due to a public health emergency
• Benefit:
  • 12 weeks of job-protected leave
  • 1^st 10 days of leave may be unpaid
  • remainder of leave must be paid at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate
  • however, paid leave is capped at $200/day and $10,000 aggregate per employee
  • job restoration entitlement may not apply to small employers (less than 25 employees) under some circumstances

Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act

• Employers covered:
  • if have less than 500 employees
• Employees covered:
  • all full-time and part-time employees (regardless of length of employment)
• Triggering events:
  1. Employee is subject to a federal, state or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19;
  2. Employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to COVID-19 concerns;
  3. Employee is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking medical diagnosis;
  4. Employee is caring for an individual subject to a quarantine or isolation order or who was advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to COVID-19 concerns;
  5. Employee is caring for a son or daughter because the child’s school or place of care is closed or unavailable due to COVID-19; or
  6. 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.
• Benefit:
  • Full time employees entitled to:
    • 80 hours of paid sick leave at employee’s regular rate – for reasons 1, 2 and 3
    • 80 hours of paid sick leave at two-thirds of the regular rate – for reasons 4, 5 and 6
  • Part-time employees entitled to:
    • Paid sick leave based on average number of hours worked during the prior 6 months
• Caps on paid sick leave:
  • Capped at $511/day and $5,110 total per employee for reasons 1, 2 and 3
  • Capped at $200/day and $2,000 total per employee for reasons 4, 5 and 6
• Other provisions:
  • Sick leave does not carry over to following year

Tax Credits for Paid Sick and Paid Family and Medical Leave

• Employers entitled to payroll tax credits for payments made to employees

The foregoing is merely a summary of some of the primary provisions of the Act which apply to employers generally. There are many other detailed provisions that are not set forth here. If you have a particular question regarding how the FFCRA applies to you and your employees in particular, you should contact your legal counsel for advice.

For more information, contact:

James J. Dean, Esq.

jdean@lawfla.com

850-222-0720