SimplyHR | Employment & Labor Blog 

With its latest Q&A set, the U.S. Department of Labor issued additional guidance on calculating paid leave and computing employees’ regular rate of compensation, and it also clarified issues arising from prior Q&As. It is a particularly good time to review the guidance, as the DOL announced the end of its non-enforcement period of the paid leave provisions under the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA) and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA).

Almost two weeks after the effective date of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), many employers are still not certain what information and documents they should obtain from employees who request emergency paid sick leave and/or expanded family and medical leave. To recap, there are six reasons an employee can take emergency paid sick leave.

On April 9, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its updated Technical Assistance Questions and Answers titled “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws” addressing several questions that have arisen since the beginning of this national emergency and reminding us that even during a pandemic, employers need to be cognizant of their obligations under the ADA and other EEO laws. A summary of the questions and answers is provided below.

A more comprehensive guide from the EEOC can be found in “Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace and the Americans With Disabilities Act,” which was drafted during the prior H1N1 outbreak and last revised on March 21, 2020, to address COVID-19.

Attempting to further clarify the confusion faced by employers following passage of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its fourth set of Q&As (#60-79) to help with implementation.

The DOL issued its first set of Q&As (#1-15) on March 24, 2020 (read more here), followed closely by its second set (#16-37) and third set (#38-59) on March 26 and March 28, respectively (read more here). The DOL also released a temporary rule issuing regulations applicable to the FFCRA on April 1 (read more here).

As claims for unemployment rise, Missouri and Illinois have eased the typical restrictions for unemployed workers to obtain benefits. Coupled with the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation, which is being administered by the states, both employers and employees are seeing some relief during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On April 1, 2020, the Department of Labor released a temporary rule issuing regulations under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) effective immediately through December 31, 2020. Employers who have been wrestling with compliance with the FFCRA’s paid leave provisions will recognize much of the material in these regulations from the DOL’s informal guidance or from the CARES Act’s amendments to the FFCRA*. The regulations also include some helpful clarification:

As employers gear up for the coming workweek in which April 1 falls, now is a good time to highlight three U.S. Department of Labor publications issued last week regarding the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).*  

The DOL’s second and third sets of FFCRA Q&As

Two days after issuing its first set of Q&As (#1-15) relating to the implementation of emergency paid sick leave and paid expanded FMLA leave (read more here), the DOL published its second set of Q&As (#16-37) on March 26. On March 28, the DOL published its third round of Q&As (#38-59). These most recent installments answer many questions that have been on the minds of employers (and their lawyers) since the FFCRA was signed into law March 18. The full text of the DOL’s Q&As can be found here. Condensed, significant highlights follow.

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.

The Department of Labor (DOL) on March 24, 2020, released its first guidance explaining aspects of paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The DOL released fact sheets aimed at both employees and employers as well as a Q&A document and promised more guidance to come. The guidance discusses how employers and employees can “take advantage of the protections and relief” offered by the FFCRA’s Paid Sick Leave Act and Emergency Family and Medical Expanded Leave Act.

On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed legislation extending to certain employees paid sick time related to COVID-19 and paid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). As part of the legislation, employers must display the Department of Labor (DOL) poster notifying employees of their rights under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). On March 25, 2020, the DOL published two posters, for federal and non-federal employers.