ARTICLE
By: Brenda L. Rogers, MBA, PHR, HR Consultant with Triangle Cooperative Service Company I would be remiss not mentioning the issues surrounding the Coronavirus (COVID-19) are changing not by the day, but by the hour. This summary was the second draft started due to the announcement late Wednesday, March 18, 2020, which President Trump signed into law H.R. 6201: The Families First Coronavirus Response Act. This article will provide an overview and guidance for employers as to what the Act means for their business and their employees. We hope you find this guide helpful; however, it is not an exhaustive overview of the Act and we encourage you to reach out to your service providers or legal counsel to address your specific needs. Important to note the Bill applies to employers with fewer than 500 employees. The Act takes effect no later than 15 days after enactment and lasting through December 31, 2020. Notice of the Act is to be posted by employers and the Secretary of Labor is to make Model Notice available no later than 7 days after the enactment of the Act. There are two areas of the Act, which significantly impact OACC Members: 1) Paid Family Leave and 2) Paid Sick Leave. Paid Family Leave Employers are aware FMLA applies to employers with 50 or more employees. While this temporary emergency Act adds some mandatory employee paid leave, the Secretary of Labor has the authority to exempt business with fewer than 50 employees, “where the imposition of these requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern.” Employers with less than 50 employees will need to request the exemption from the temporary FMLA requirements under the Act. The process for requesting this exemption is unclear. However, employers should monitor the Department of Labor website, or seek guidance from their consulting services, or legal counsel. Specifics of the emergency paid FMLA are: 1. Employees with at least 30 days of service are eligible 2. Full-time and Part-time employees qualify 3. Employee has a qualifying need related to a Public Health Emergency - Employee is unable to work or telework due to a need for leave to care for the child (under 18 years of age) of such employee if the school or place of care has been closed, or the child care provider of the child is unavailable, due to a public health emergency - The term “school” means an elementary school or secondary school 4. Unpaid leave for initial 10 days - The first 10 days for which an employee takes leave may consist of unpaid leave - An employee may elect to substitute any accrued leave for unpaid leave - Employer is required to provide paid leave for each day after taking leave for 10 days - Paid leave shall be calculated based on an amount that is not less than two-thirds of employee’s regular rate of pay - In no event shall such paid leave exceed $200 per day and $10,000 in aggregate Emergency Paid Sick Leave Unlike the Family Leave, there is no exemption for the employers with less than 50 employees. All employees with less than 500 employees must comply or face penalties. Under this Act, employers must provide two weeks of paid sick leave (paid at regular rate of pay with maximum) for use by those employees who cannot work or telework for the following reasons: 1. The employee is subject to a Federal, State or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19. 2. The employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19 3. The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis. 4. The employee is caring for an individual who is subject to an order as described in paragraph (1) or has been advised as described in paragraph (2). 5. The employee is caring for a son or daughter of such employee, if the school or place of care of the son or daughter has been closed, or the child care provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID-19 precautions. 6. The employee is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Labor. The employee’s sick time should be paid as follows: 1. Full-time = 80 hours; Part-time = number of hours equal to hours worked, on average, over 2 week period 2. In no event shall paid sick time exceed – a. $511 per day and $5,110 in aggregate for # 1, 2 and 3 above. b. $200 per day and $2,000 for # 4, 5 and 6 above. Addressing Leave Requests Employers may ask employees to stay home or self-quarantine, if they exhibit the signs of COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describes the symptoms as fever, cough and shortness of breath. Prior to this event, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), prohibited employers from requiring or taking the temperatures of employees. On March 18, they announced, during this emergency, employers may take this step to mitigate the spread of the virus. If employees can telecommute, it is a great way to isolate employees and keep work progressing. Tax Credit There are specific Tax Credits for Paid Sick and Paid Family and Medical Leave that employers will want to review with their CPA. A couple of points to know are: - Payroll credit for required paid sick leave for each calendar quarter an amount equal to 100 percent of the qualified sick leave wages paid. - The amounts should not exceed what is described above. While there are numerous other requirements outlined in the Act, the FMLA and Sick Leave requirements are those, which employer’s should address immediately. There are also temporary changes, which effect unemployment. Most notably for employers is, if a layoff occurs, the employer is to provide notification to the employee of availability of unemployment compensation at the time of separation. It is our hope none of our partnering businesses experience layoffs resulting from the COVID-19 events, but we encourage those that do and need assistance to reach out to their consulting service providers, CPA or legal counsel.
Important to note the Bill applies to employers with fewer than 500 employees. The Act takes effect no later than 15 days after enactment and lasting through December 31, 2020. Notice of the Act is to be posted by employers and the Secretary of Labor is to make Model Notice available no later than 7 days after the enactment of the Act.
There are two areas of the Act, which significantly impact OACC Members: 1) Paid Family Leave and 2) Paid Sick Leave. Paid Family Leave Employers are aware FMLA applies to employers with 50 or more employees. While this temporary emergency Act adds some mandatory employee paid leave, the Secretary of Labor has the authority to exempt business with fewer than 50 employees, “where the imposition of these requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern.” Employers with less than 50 employees will need to request the exemption from the temporary FMLA requirements under the Act. The process for requesting this exemption is unclear. However, employers should monitor the Department of Labor website, or seek guidance from their consulting services, or legal counsel. Specifics of the emergency paid FMLA are:
1. Employees with at least 30 days of service are eligible 2. Full-time and Part-time employees qualify 3. Employee has a qualifying need related to a Public Health Emergency - Employee is unable to work or telework due to a need for leave to care for the child (under 18 years of age) of such employee if the school or place of care has been closed, or the child care provider of the child is unavailable, due to a public health emergency - The term “school” means an elementary school or secondary school 4. Unpaid leave for initial 10 days - The first 10 days for which an employee takes leave may consist of unpaid leave - An employee may elect to substitute any accrued leave for unpaid leave - Employer is required to provide paid leave for each day after taking leave for 10 days - Paid leave shall be calculated based on an amount that is not less than two-thirds of employee’s regular rate of pay - In no event shall such paid leave exceed $200 per day and $10,000 in aggregate Emergency Paid Sick Leave Unlike the Family Leave, there is no exemption for the employers with less than 50 employees. All employees with less than 500 employees must comply or face penalties. Under this Act, employers must provide two weeks of paid sick leave (paid at regular rate of pay with maximum) for use by those employees who cannot work or telework for the following reasons:
1. The employee is subject to a Federal, State or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19. 2. The employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19 3. The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis. 4. The employee is caring for an individual who is subject to an order as described in paragraph (1) or has been advised as described in paragraph (2). 5. The employee is caring for a son or daughter of such employee, if the school or place of care of the son or daughter has been closed, or the child care provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID-19 precautions. 6. The employee is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Labor.
The employee’s sick time should be paid as follows: 1. Full-time = 80 hours; Part-time = number of hours equal to hours worked, on average, over 2 week period 2. In no event shall paid sick time exceed – a. $511 per day and $5,110 in aggregate for # 1, 2 and 3 above. b. $200 per day and $2,000 for # 4, 5 and 6 above. Addressing Leave Requests Employers may ask employees to stay home or self-quarantine, if they exhibit the signs of COVID-19. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) describes the symptoms as fever, cough and shortness of breath. Prior to this event, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), prohibited employers from requiring or taking the temperatures of employees. On March 18, they announced, during this emergency, employers may take this step to mitigate the spread of the virus. If employees can telecommute, it is a great way to isolate employees and keep work progressing. Tax Credit There are specific Tax Credits for Paid Sick and Paid Family and Medical Leave that employers will want to review with their CPA. A couple of points to know are: - Payroll credit for required paid sick leave for each calendar quarter an amount equal to 100 percent of the qualified sick leave wages paid. - The amounts should not exceed what is described above.
While there are numerous other requirements outlined in the Act, the FMLA and Sick Leave requirements are those, which employer’s should address immediately. There are also temporary changes, which effect unemployment. Most notably for employers is, if a layoff occurs, the employer is to provide notification to the employee of availability of unemployment compensation at the time of separation. It is our hope none of our partnering businesses experience layoffs resulting from the COVID-19 events, but we encourage those that do and need assistance to reach out to their consulting service providers, CPA or legal counsel.