Department of Labor Releases Final Rule
This week the IRS and DOL issued clarification on Qualified Sick Leave and Qualified Family Leave. The Department of Labor has released its final rule requiring small and medium sized employers (those with fewer than 500 workers) to provide two weeks of paid sick leave to employees unable to work due to COVID-19.
Those companies also must offer up to 10 weeks of partially paid leave under expanded Family and Medical Leave Act coverage to care for a child whose school or daycare is closed due to the pandemic (reason #5 only). The leave expires on December 31, 2020. This is a change from their original statement last week. We have updated e3 to reflect these leave types.
The Department of Labor has released a Questions & Answers page on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). We have also posted a client Question & Answer blog here.
Qualified sick leave wages are wages that the FFCRA requires an employer to pay to an employee who is unable to work or telework because of either the employee’s personal health status (that is, the employee is under COVID-19 quarantine or self-quarantine or has COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis) or the employee’s need to care for others (that is, the employee is caring for someone with COVID-19 or for a child whose school or place of care is closed or child care provider is unavailable).
For more information, see “What is included in “qualified sick leave wages?”
Qualified family leave wages are wages that the FFCRA requires an employer to pay to an employee who is unable to work or telework because the employee is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed or child care provider is unavailable due to COVID-19-related reasons.
For more information, see “What is included in “qualified family leave wages?”
A number of states are beginning to or have already adopted their own emergency sick leave statutes, and many of these statutes do not exempt large employers. Your organization should monitor compliance with FFCRA, as well as enactments by your applicable states.
