The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA), signed into law on March 12, 2021, extends the Families First Coronavirus Response Act’s (FFCRA) paid leave program for employees who must stay home to care for themselves or their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning April 1, 2021, eligible employers (generally private employers with fewer than 500 employees) may voluntarily choose to — but are not required to — extend and expand paid leave benefits under FFCRA and receive a corresponding tax credit.

Under ARPA, employers may offer employees up to 10 days (80 hours) of additional emergency paid sick leave (EPSL), plus up to 12 weeks of paid emergency family and medical leave (EFML), for qualified, COVID-related leave. In each case, this applies to leave taken between April 1, 2021, and Sept. 30, 2021. 

As before, qualified employers who offer this paid leave can receive reimbursement for the cost of the leave through a credit against payroll taxes — specifically, the employer’s share of Medicare taxes. Creditable costs continue to include the cost of the paid leave plus allocable health plan costs. Some new categories of creditable costs have also been added, which will be primarily relevant to collectively bargained employees (e.g., costs associated with apprenticeship plans). 

The ARPA makes some important adjustments to the scope of EPSL and EFML, including:

1. Paid Leave Hours Reset
The ARPA resets employees’ 80-hour paid leave bank for emergency paid sick leave. Employees who have used some or all of their 80 hours of EPSL can receive      Continue Reading...

Through the end of August there were at least 72 lawsuits filed against employers alleging violations of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). In most of these cases, employees allege they were unlawfully fired after they contracted the virus or requested leave for one of the reasons protected by the FFCRA. In a few cases, employees say they were granted leave, but it was unpaid, and thus seek payment and other damages.

As a refresher, the FFCRA requires certain employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide their employees with paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19, which are subject to a corresponding tax credit. Generally speaking, and subject to certain exceptions, employers covered under the Act must provide employees up to two weeks (80 hours or a part-time employee’s two-week equivalent) of paid sick leave, at full pay (up to a $511 per day) if they are subject to a quarantine order related to COVID-19, have been advised by a healthcare provider to self-quarantine related to COVID-19, or are experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19. The Act also provides for up to two weeks of paid sick leave at two-thirds pay (up to $200 per day) to employees if they are caring for an individual who is subject to a quarantine order or has been advised by a healthcare provider to self-quarantine, and up to 12 weeks of paid sick leave and expanded FMLA leave at two-thirds pay (up to      Continue Reading...

On Sept. 11, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor issued revisions to its regulations that implement the paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The revised rule will take effect on Sept. 16, 2020, when it will be published in official form.

Revised Regulations Respond to Court Ruling

These revisions were made to clarify workers’ rights and employers’ responsibilities under the FFCRA’s paid leave provisions in light of a New York court’s order finding portions of the initial regulations invalid. Specifically, the court set aside four parts of the regulations: (1) the requirement that paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave are available only if an employee otherwise has work from which to take leave; (2) the requirement that an employee may take FFCRA leave intermittently only with employer approval; (3) the definition of an employee who is a “health care provider,” whom an employer may exclude from being eligible for FFCRA leave; and (4) the statement that employees who take FFCRA leave must provide their employers with certain documentation before taking leave.
In its revised regulations, DOL does the following:

• Reaffirms and provides additional explanation for the requirement that employees may take FFCRA leave only if work would otherwise be available to them.
• Reaffirms and provides additional explanation for the requirement that an employee must obtain employer approval to take FFCRA leave intermittently.
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The Department of Labor continues to update the Q&As regarding the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The recent updates have big impacts on parents of school-aged children as schools tackle the decision of how to move forward. No matter what local schools and parents decide, it is important that employers be prepared.

Hybrid Learning: Under this model, children would alternate between days attending school in person and participating in remote learning. Here, parents would be allowed to take FFCRA leave on the days that the child is home participating in remote learning, because school is effectively “closed” on the days of remote learning. The requirement still applies that the employee must actually need to care for the child during that time and there is no other suitable person to do so.

Remote Learning: Some schools are choosing to proceed with only remote learning because of COVID-19. Employees with children who attend such schools would be eligible for FFCRA leave while the school is closed, as long as the employee meets the other requirements. In the event the school reopens at a later time, the employee may lose FFCRA eligibility.

Elective Remote Learning: If an employee has the option of allowing his or her child to attend in person classes or participate in remote learning, the situation changes. Employees who voluntarily sign up for remote learning out of fear their child will contract COVID-19 will lose eligibility for leave under the FFCRA because the school      Continue Reading...

On August 3, 2020, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York invalidated several key portions of the U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Final Rule implementing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”).

Today, the U.S. Department of Labor issued its regulations to implement the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act, both of which are part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA or Act). The FFCRA, which became law on March 18, went into effect today, April 1.

This afternoon the United States Department of Labor (DOL) issued its model notice of employee rights regarding paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The model notice describes information regarding the FFCRA’s paid leave entitlements, eligibility requirements, qualifying reasons for leave related to COVID-19, and the DOL’s enforcement authority. A copy of the notice is available here.

Employer-sponsored group health plans have drawn attention regarding coverage for certain coronavirus-related costs.

Under the FFCRA, all group health plans are now required to provide coverage for COVID-19 testing without imposing deductibles, copayments, or other cost sharing — and without requiring prior authorization or imposing other medical management standards. This coverage must include both the cost of the test and related services, such as charges for office, telehealth, urgent care, or ER visits and charges for the collection of testing samples. The testing mandate applies to all types of group health plans, including fully insured plans, self-insured plans, high deductible health plans (HDHPs), and plans that are otherwise “grandfathered” from certain ACA requirements. The mandate also applies to fully insured plans sold in the individual insurance market.

This mandate only applies to coverage of COVID-19 testing and related services. Coverage of treatment for COVID-19 remains subject to the terms of each plan, including applicable cost sharing requirements.

IRS Notice 2020-15 clarifies that an HDHP may provide benefits for COVID-19 testing or treatment prior to satisfaction of the minimum deductible without jeopardizing the plan’s status as an HDHP. Individuals covered under an HDHP may receive no-deductible or low-deductible coverage for these costs and remain eligible to contribute to a health savings account (HSA).

A new package of proposed federal legislation, currently called the CARES Act, would provide additional flexibility with respect to HDHPs and HSAs:

• An HDHP could provide for coverage of telemedicine visits even if the HDHP deductible has not been      Continue Reading...

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which was enacted on March 18, 2020, established two new categories of paid leave to assist workers needing time off for certain coronavirus-related purposes: (1) up to two weeks of paid sick leave, and (2) up to ten weeks of paid FMLA leave. These paid leave mandates apply to private sector employers with fewer than 500 employees and public sector employers of any size.

Although the FFCRA requires covered employers to provide these new types of paid leave to qualifying employees, it establishes a process for eligible employers to obtain reimbursement from the federal government for the cost of the paid leave through refundable credits against Social Security payroll taxes. The tax credit is available to all private sector employers that are subject to the FFCRA paid leave mandates, regardless of the type of entity (C corporation, S corporation, partnership, LLC, or sole proprietorship). Public sector employers are expressly excluded from eligibility for the tax credit, although they are subject to the paid leave mandates. Private sector employers with 500 or more employees also are not eligible for the credit, even if they voluntarily provide paid leave that mirrors the FFCRA requirements.

An eligible employer’s payroll tax credit for each calendar quarter is an amount equal to 100% of the qualified sick leave wages and 100% of the qualified family leave wages paid by such employer for the quarter. The credit is limited to the maximum amount of the paid leave required to be paid      Continue Reading...

Last week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201), which, among many other things, provides paid leave for employees who must stay home to care for themselves or their families during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yesterday, the Senate passed the Act, and President Trump signed it into law. The Act makes sweeping changes to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and has immediate consequences for employers.