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FFCRA - Managing Leave and Pay Requests

Updated: Apr 8, 2020


The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) has raised many questions on

Emergency Family Medical Leave (EFMLA) and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSL) which requires certain employers to provide employees with paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave for reasons related to Covid-19.

The provisions apply from April 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020.

Generally, the Act provides that employees of covered employers are eligible for:

· 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 the employee is quarantined

· Two weeks (up to 80 hours)of paid sick leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay because the employee 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 to 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

· Up to an additional 10 weeksof paid expanded family and medical leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay where an employee, who has been employed for at least 30 calendar days, is unable to work due to 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.

Covered Employers:

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 due to school closings or child care unavailability if the leave requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern.


Eligible Employees:

All employees of covered employers are eligible for two weeks of paid sick time for specified reasons related to COVID-19. Employees employed for at least 30 days are eligible for up to an additional 10 weeks of paid family leave to care for a child under certain circumstances related to COVID-19.


Providing Notice:

Where leave is foreseeable, an employee should provide notice of leave to the employer as is practicable. After the first workday of paid sick time, an employer may require employees to follow reasonable notice procedures in order to continue receiving paid sick time.


Qualifying Reasons for Leave:

Under the FFCRA, an employee qualifies for paid sick time if the employee is unable to work (or unable to telework) due to a need for leave because the employee:

1. is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19;

2. has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine related to COVID-19;

3. is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis;

4. is caring for an individual subject to an order described in (1) or self-quarantine as described in (2);

5. is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed (or child care provider is unavailable) for reasons related to COVID-19; or

6. is experiencing any other substantially-similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of Labor and Treasury.

Under the FFCRA, an employee qualifies for expanded family leave if the employee is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed (or child care provider is unavailable) for reasons related to COVID-19.


Duration of Leave:

For reasons (1)-(4) and (6): A full-time employee is eligible for 80 hours of leave, and a part-time employee is eligible for the number of hours of leave that the employee works on average over a two-week period.

For reason (5): A full-time employee is eligible for up to 12 weeks of leave (two weeks of paid sick leave followed by up to 10 weeks of paid expanded family & medical leave) at 40 hours a week, and a part-time employee is eligible for leave for the number of hours that the employee is normally scheduled to work over that period.


Calculation of Pay

For leave reasons (1), (2), or (3): employees taking leave are entitled to pay at either their regular rate or the applicable minimum wage, whichever is higher, up to $511 per day and $5,110 in the aggregate (over a 2-week period).

For leave reasons (4) or (6): employees taking leave are entitled to pay at 2/3 their regular rate or 2/3 the applicable minimum wage, whichever is higher, up to $200 per day and $2,000 in the aggregate (over a 2-week period).

For leave reason (5): employees taking leave are entitled to pay at 2/3 their regular rate or 2/3 the applicable minimum wage, whichever is higher, up to $200 per day and $12,000 in the aggregate (over a 12-week period).

EPSL - Documentation Requirements

If one of your employees takes paid sick leave under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act, you must require your employee to provide you with appropriate documentation in support of the reason for the leave, including:

· the employee’s name, qualifying reason for requesting leave,

· statement that the employee is unable to work, including telework, for that reason,

· and the date(s) for which leave is requested.

Documentation of the reason for the leave will also be necessary, such as the source of any quarantine or isolation order, or the name of the health care provider who has advised self-quarantine.

Employer Tax Credits

Employers covered by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the Act) may now take advantage of the special tax credits designed to reimburse them for providing coronavirus-related leave to their employees. Although the effective date has not been determined, but will be no later than April 1, 2020, the tax credits are available immediately.  

Refer to https://www.irs.gov/coronavirusfor details.

Record Keeping Requirements for Tax Credits In addition to the completed FFCRA Leave Request Forms attached and the supporting documentation employers should maintain the following for at least 4 years after the date the tax becomes due or is paid, whichever comes later:

1. Documentation to show how the employer determined the amount of qualified sick and family leave wages paid to employees that are eligible for the credit, including records of work, telework and qualified sick leave and qualified family leave.

2. Documentation to show how the employer determined the amount of qualified health plan expenses that the employer allocated to wages. See FAQ 31 (“Determining the Amount of Allocable Qualified Health Plan Expenses”) for methods to compute this allocation.

3. Copies of any completed Forms 7200, Advance of Employer Credits Due To COVID-19, that the employer submitted to the IRS.

4. Copies of the completed Forms 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, that the employer submitted to the IRS (or, for employers that use third party payers to meet their employment tax obligations, records of information provided to the third party payer regarding the employer’s entitlement to the credit claimed on Form 941).

Resources

FAQ’s -HERE

The Department of Labor (DOL) published its initial guidance for employers on the FFCRA. The model notice is available HERE

This fact sheet and all additional guidance posted to date can be found HERE and at

Information on Tax Credits can be found HERE

Forms

In order to support all of this, please also find pertinent documents for your use attached:

  • FFCRA Emergency Paid Leave Absence Tracking Worksheet (this is for Employers)

  • Request Form for EFMLA/FFCRA (this is for Employees)

  • Request Form for Emergency Paid Sick Leave (this is for Employees)

Artemiste is committed to helping our clients navigate through these ever-changing HR challenges. We will continue to publish updates as they become available and are here to answer any questions during the crisis and beyond. 

Discover Our Expertise - Artemiste offers a wide range of Human Resources services to help your business needs. We understand the challenges employers are facing and will work with you to ensure you have the best guidance and tools available. Contact us today for a complimentary consultation

Aisling Byrne, SHRM-SCP, CEBS, CMS, CPLPis the CHRO and CTLD at Artemiste where creating great places to work is our passion. Ms. Byrne is a frequent contributor to the Artemiste blog on many topics including onboarding, talent development, performance management, compensation planning, employee engagement, total rewards and learning and development.

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