DOL Releases New FAQs Regarding Families First Coronavirus Act

·      FFCRA’s paid leave provisions are effective on April 1, 2020 (NOT April 2)

·      Employers have fewer than 500 employees if, at the time an employee’s leave is to be taken, they employ fewer than 500 full-time and part-time employees within the United States. In making this determination, employers should include employees on leave; temporary employees who are jointly employed with another employer (regardless of whether the jointly-employed employees are maintained on only one employer’s payroll); and day laborers supplied by a temporary agency (regardless of whether the employer is the temporary agency or the client firm if there is a continuing employment relationship). Workers who are independent contractors under the FLSA, rather than employees, are not considered employees for purposes of the 500-employee threshold.

·      The Emergency FMLA Expansion Act requires employers to pay an employee for hours the employee would have been normally scheduled to work, even if that is more than 40 hours in a workweek (i.e. including overtime). For example, an employee who is scheduled to work 50 hours a week may take 50 hours of paid sick leave in the first week and 30 hours of paid sick leave in the second week. In any event, the total number of hours paid under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act is limited to 80.

·      PSL is capped at 80 hours. An employee may take up to two week, or ten days, (80 hours for a full-time employee, or for a part-time employee, the number of hours equal to the average number of hours that the employee works over a typical two-week period) of paid sick leave for any combination of qualifying reasons.

·      PSL and expanded FMLA run concurrently and are NOT retroactive. Any leave taken before April 1 does not count against FFCRA leave entitlements.

Please note this current global emergency and applicable laws, regulations, proposals, guidance, advice, and responses change rapidly. We strive to keep you up to date as much as possible, but this blog article is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice or opinion. Contact myHRcounsel with questions concerning specific facts and circumstances.