SimplyHR | Employment & Labor Blog 

This post was updated on April 4, 2020.

The CARES Act tweaks the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act and establishes Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation to supplement state unemployment. Employers should take note of these provisions.

President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) on March 27, 2020. This extensive 880-page stimulus legislation is packed full of a variety of incentives for employers and their workers, which employers will want to consider as they decide how to manage their workforce in the coming days, weeks and even months. One important piece of the legislation is the Paycheck Protection Program discussed here. In this blog, we tackle the portions of the CARES Act that amend the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (“EPSLA”) and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (“EFMLEA”), which take effect on April 1, 2020 and were previously covered  here. We also discuss the enhanced unemployment benefits made available to workers by the CARES Act.