FAQ: Coronavirus & HR

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT HR AND CORONAVIRUS SUMMARY OF THE FAMILIES FIRST CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE ACT
New laws addressing critical human resources issues have just been enacted in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This legislation is called the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
The new laws include refundable tax credits for employers that are required to offer emergency FMLA or paid sick leave.
WHAT DOES THE NEW EMERGENCY FMLA FEDERAL LEGISLATION REQUIRE?
The new legislation in response to coronavirus—which applies to businesses with FEWER than 500 employees—requires:

• Twelve weeks of job protection under the revised Family and Medical Leave Act

• The leave applies when o An employee is unable to work or telework in order to care for a minor child if the child’s school or child care has closed or is unavailable due to a public health emergency

• The first 10 days of leave can be unpaid. o The employee can use PTO (vacation, sick, and/or personal). o Employers cannot require use of PTO for this leave.

• The remaining FMLA leave MUST be paid by the employer as follows: o Pay should be at 2/3 of the employee’s regular rate. o Number of hours paid should be those that the employee would be otherwise scheduled to work. o Pay can be capped at $200 per day. o Pay can be capped at $10,000 total.

• The employee has job protection to return to their position or an equivalent position after their leave expires or their need for leave is resolved.

• Exception to job protection for employers with fewer than 25 employees: o If the employee’s position has been eliminated due to operational changes resulting from a public health emergency, the employer does not have to provide a position for the employee at the end of their leave. 

CRITICAL INFORMATION:
For companies with fewer than 50 employees:

• If the required leave provisions of this new legislation will jeopardize the viability of the company’s business, the company can be excluded from the requirements of this Emergency FMLA legislation.


WHAT DOES THE NEW EMERGENCY FEDERAL PAID SICK LEAVE LEGISLATION REQUIRE?
The new legislation in response to coronavirus—which applies to businesses with FEWER than 500 employees—requires:

• All full-time employees are entitled to 80 hours of paid sick time.

• All part-time employees are entitled to paid sick time hours equivalent to the typical number of hours they are scheduled to work in a two-week time period.

• This sick time may be used by employees in the following circumstances: o Subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID19 o Following the advice of a healthcare provider to self-quarantine because of COVID-19

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