COVID-19 Update: President Trump Signs Family First Coronavirus Response Act
As we expected, the federal government will provide additional sick leave relief and paid child care leave for employees; in anticipation of things to come, California will ease employers’ mass layoff notice requirements.
Families First Coronavirus Response Act
On March 18, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the legislature’s response to the COVID-19 health crisis. Private employers with fewer than 500 employees and all government employers must be ready to offer emergency family and medical leave and emergency paid sick leave to eligible employees. Additional information and further clarification on these sweeping provisions will likely be provided in the coming days through federal guidance. This program will become effective within 15 days after its enactment by President Trump and is set to expire on December 31, 2020.
Emergency Paid Sick Leave
The paid sick leave portion of the Act requires covered employers to provide all employees who cannot work or telework due to COVID-19 related circumstances, with up to 80 hours of paid sick time, prorated for part-time employees. Employees are eligible if they meet any one of the following circumstances:
- The employee is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19.
- The employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.
- The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis.
- The employee is caring for an individual who is subject to an order as described in subparagraph (1) or has been advised as described in paragraph (2).
- The employee is caring for a son or daughter if the school or place of care of the son or daughter has been closed, or the child care provider of the son or daughter 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 in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor.
If an employee is taking the leave for any one of the first three reasons listed above, the employee must be compensated at the higher of his or her regular rate, the federal minimum wage, or the local minimum wage. If an employee is taking the leave for one of the three subsequent reasons listed above, the employee must be paid two-thirds of the rate he or she would otherwise receive. This paid leave is separate and above any existing sick leave entitlements that employees may already have.
Compliance with the provisions of the emergency paid sick leave portion of the Act also requires employers to post notices explaining employees’ entitlement to the paid sick leave. Similar to the emergency family and medical leave provisions, the Act provides that the Secretary of Labor shall have the authority to exclude certain health care providers and emergency responders, as well as small businesses with fewer than 50 employees from the paid sick leave requirements.
Emergency Family and Medical Leave
Employees who have been employed for 30 consecutive days will be eligible for 12 weeks of job protected leave if they are unable to work (or telework) due to a need to care for a child under 18 years of age because the child’s school or place of care has been closed or because the child care provider is unavailable due to COVID-19. While the first 10 days of the leave may be unpaid, the remainder must be paid at no less than two-thirds of an employee’s regular rate of pay, not to exceed $200 per day and $10,000 in the aggregate. Employees may choose to use previously available sick leave, vacation leave, or paid time off; however, employers cannot require employees to utilize such leave. The Secretary of Labor has the authority to issue regulations to exclude certain health care providers, as well as employers with fewer than 50 employees, from the emergency family and medical relief provision’s requirements.
