• The law will take effect on April 1, 2020 and expire on December 31, 2020.
• It applies to employers with fewer than 500 workers.
• Employees are eligible for paid leave and paid sick time relating to COVID-19 and its impact.
• Pay is calculated using the employee’s regular rate of pay.
• Employers may choose not to provide benefits to healthcare providers and emergency responders.
• Employees are required to provide as much notice of the need for leave as practicable. But after the first workday of paid sick time, an employer may require employees to follow reasonable notice procedures in order to continue receiving paid sick time.
• Employers will get a 100-percent payroll tax credit on wages paid for the leave required under the act.
• DOL is empowered to issue regulations that could exempt employers with fewer than 50 employees.
Expanded FMLA
• Employers must provide up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave for employees who have been on the job for at least 30 days and who are unable to work because they have to care for a minor child if the child’s school or place of care has been closed, or if the child care provider of that child is unavailable due to a coronavirus emergency.
• The first 10 days of leave can be unpaid. Employees may use accrued vacation days or other available paid leave to cover those days.
• For subsequent days, workers are entitled to two-thirds of their normal pay rate, capped at $200 per day and $10,000 total.
• Pay for leave is based on; 1) the employee’s normal work schedule, or, 2) the average hours the employee was scheduled to work during the prior 6 months, or 3) the reasonable expectation of the employee.
• Employees need only provide whatever notice is practicable to request leave.
• Employees on leave must be restored to their prior or equivalent positions; if the job goes away, employers have a duty to look for other jobs for up to 12 months. There is an exception for employers with fewer than 25 employees in certain circumstances.
Federal Paid Sick Leave
• Employers must immediately provide employees who cannot work or telework with two weeks of paid sick time.
• Leave is available on the employee’s first day of employment.
• Leave is at full pay (capped at $511/day, $5,110 aggregate) if the employee:
(1) is subject to a coronavirus quarantine or isolation order;
(2) has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to coronavirus concerns; or
(3) is experiencing coronavirus symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis.
• Leave is at two-thirds pay (capped at $200/day, $2,000 aggregate) if the employee:
(4) is caring for an individual subject to quarantine order or self-quarantine restrictions;
(5) is caring for a child whose school or childcare is closed or unavailable due to coronavirus;
(6) is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
• This benefit is in addition to other sick leave. Employers cannot require workers to use any other available paid leave before using this federally required sick time.
• Like Arizona’s paid sick leave law, employers may not require workers to find replacements.
• The law prohibits discrimination against workers who take leave, or file a complaint against the employer with the DOL.
• Leave for part-time employees is based on the average hours worked over a two-week period.
• There is a poster and instructions for how it is to be distributed here:
• https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic
