DOL issues guidance under Families First Coronavirus Response Act

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was the second piece of legislation enacted in response to the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. It requires certain employers to provide their employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19. The Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Wage and Hour Division (WHD) administers and enforces the new law’s paid leave requirements, which apply through Dec. 31.

According to the WHD, FFCRA provides that covered employers must provide all employees:

• two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at the employee’s regular rate of pay where the employee is unable to work because he or she is quarantined (pursuant to federal, state or local government order or advice of a health care provider) and/or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis or
• two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay because he or she is unable to work because of a bona fide need to care for an individual subject to quarantine (pursuant to federal, state or local government order or advice of a health care provider) or care for a child (under 18 years of age) whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19 and/or the employee is experiencing a substantially similar condition as specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of the Treasury and Labor.

The DOL says that under FFCRA, "covered employers must provide employees who have been employed for at least 30 days up to an additional 10 weeks of paid expanded family and medical leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay where an employee is unable to work because of a bona fide need for leave to care for a child whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19."

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.

Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may qualify for exemption from the requirement to provide leave because of school closings or child care unavailability if the leave requirements would “jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern,” the DOL notes.

Additional details for employers are available at www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employer-paid-leave, while additional details for employees can be found at www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employee-paid-leave.

The DOL’s WHD offers guidance and resources related to FFCRA at www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic.