Lauren Barghols Hanna
On March 18, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act into law. It applies to all private employers with fewer than 500 employers. Paid sick time will be permitted to employees regardless of tenure, while employees with at least 30 days on the job will be eligible for the amended FMLA leave connected to the coronavirus.
We expect the effective date for compliance will be April 2, 2020. We will continue to advise as regulations are released.
The coronavirus relief package provides the following paid leave benefits to eligible employees:
Paid Sick Time (up to 80 hours/2 weeks paid leave)
- Employees paid full wages for absences related to their own diagnosis/quarantine and 2/3 of wages for absences related to caring for family members or their child’s school closures
- Caps to paid sick time are $511/day and up to $5,110 for employee’s own illness/quarantine and $200/day and up to $2,000 total for all other qualifying leave
- Secretary of Labor has the authority to issue regulations exempting small employers (fewer than 50 employees) from providing paid sick leave. DOL regulations are expected within 7 days of enactment
- Paid leave time available only to workers who are unable to work or telework due to a more-tightly defined coronavirus-related absence
- Healthcare professionals and emergency responders may be excluded from eligibility
- New cap for tax credit permitted for self-employed individuals
Paid FMLA Leave (up to 10 additional weeks of paid leave related to coronavirus emergency)
- Paid FMLA leave available only to employees who are unable to work or telework due to caring for a minor child due to school closing or childcare unavailability
- Paid leave capped at 2/3 of an employee’s wages, up to $200/day or $10,000 total
- Secretary of Labor has the authority to issue regulations exempting small employers (fewer than 50 employees) from providing paid FMLA leave. DOL regulations are expected within 7 days of enactment
- Healthcare professionals and emergency responders may be excluded from eligibility
Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), advised in a speech Wednesday morning just prior to voting for this Act, that he does not consider the above employee protections to go far enough to protect either individual employees or small business owners—and that the Senate will not be adjourning until additional legislation is passed to address additional needs.
Please follow this link to a more detailed article providing additional information regarding the Act and helpful scenarios explaining how leave will be paid under the Act.
Phillips Murrah’s labor and employment attorneys continue to monitor new developments and stand ready to assist your company timely and efficiently implement these new paid leave obligations and answer your other pressing employment questions arising from this national public health emergency.
To find out more about how this affects your business, please contact:
Oklahoma City
lbhanna@phillipsmurrah.com
405.606.4732
Dallas
jahendrick@phillipsmurrah.com
214.615.6391
Oklahoma City
kdterry@phillipsmurrah.com
405.552.2452
Oklahoma City
bjmaule@phillipsmurrah.com
405.552.2453
Oklahoma City
lsvoth@phillipsmurrah.com
405.606.4740