IRS-ADVOCATES

What is The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)?

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA or Act) requires certain employers to provide employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19.

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The FFCRA provides that Eligible Employers providing leave under the EPSLA and the Expanded FMLA are entitled to fully refundable tax credits to cover the cost of the leave paid for these periods of time during which employees are unable to work (which for purposes of these rules, includes telework).

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Generally, the Act provides that covered employers must provide to all employees the following:

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• 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 (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of a health care provider), and/or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis; or

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• 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 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 as specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of the Treasury and Labor.

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A covered employer must provide to the employees that have worked with the company for at least 30 days:

• Up to an additional 10 weeks of paid expanded family and medical leave, the amount will be two-thirds of the employee’s regular rate of pay. This is where an employee that is unable to work due to the following: had Covid, a bona fide need to care for a child whose school or childcare provider is closed due to COVID-19 related issues like: having symptoms and waiting on results of a test.

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Covered Employers: The paid sick leave, expanded family and medical leave provisions of the FFCRA apply to certain public and private employers with fewer than 500 employees. Most employees of the federal government are covered by Title II of the Family and Medical Leave Act, which was not amended by this Act, and are therefore not covered by the expanded family and medical leave provisions of the FFCRA. However, federal employees covered by Title II of the Family and Medical Leave Act are covered by the paid sick leave provision. 

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Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may qualify for exemption from the requirement to provide leave due to school closings or childcare unavailability if the leave requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business.

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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) is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed (or childcare provider is    

       unavailable) for reasons related to COVID-19; or

   5. 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.

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Duration of Leave:

1. For reasons (1)-(4) and (6): A full-time employee is eligible for up to 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.

       *Between April 01, 2020 to December 30, 2020

      

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1. For reason (5): A full-time employee is eligible for up to 12 weeks of 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

       *Between April 01, 2020 to December 30, 2020

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