Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act

– Both Go Into Effect As Of April 2, 2020.

The Emergency Family Medical Leave Expansion Act

Employers with 500 or less employees must provide leave to workers who need to care for a child under 18 because of a school closure related to COVID-19;

• The first 10 days of leave related to school closures can be unpaid leave;
• An employee may elect to substitute any accrued paid time off during the first 10 days of leave;
• Following 10 days of unpaid leave related to COVID-19 school closures, employers must provide paid leave which is to be two-thirds of the employee’s regular rate of pay up to a maximum of $200 per day and $10,000 overall;

SMALL EMPLOYER EXEMPTION: Employers with 50 employees or less may be exempted from this law if the law would jeopardize their business as a going concern. (This is reported to mean
that small employers can’t be sued: the appears to exempt employers with fewer than 50 employees in a 75-mile radius from civil FMLA damages in an FMLA lawsuit.)

The new law modifies the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (“FMLA”) temporarily through the end of 2020 and includes a requirement that employers provide paid sick leave to employees
impacted by COVID-19.

The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act

Most employers, with limited exceptions, are to provide paid sick leave to employees unable to work or telework if the employee:

• Is under quarantine related to COVID-19;
• Has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concernsrelated to COVID-19;
• Is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and is seeking a medical diagnosis;
• Is caring for an individual who is quarantined, has been advised to self-quarantine, or is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and is seeking a medical diagnosis.

Employees are entitled to the following durations of paid sick time:

• Full-time employees are entitled to receive 80 hours of paid sick time;
• Part-time employees are entitled to receive a number of hours equal to the number of hours that such employee works, on average, over a 2-week period;

An employer cannot require an employee to use other paid sick leave time provided by the employer before the employee uses the paid sick time provided for by this new law.

The Secretary of Labor will be providing a notice employers are required to post regarding the changes above to the law.