As cases in our area increase the likelihood of one of your staff being impacted by the Coronavirus is inevitable.  With these increases in cases comes the need to refresh ourselves on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

The Department of Labor’s Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) provides your staff with paid emergency sick leave and the Extended FMLA (EFMLA).  As a reminder the FFCRA affects employers with fewer than 500 employees and was implemented on April 1, 2020 and is set to expire on December 31, 2020.

Recently the Department of Labor announced some updated guidance on a few aspects of the FFCRA.

  • Reaffirmed that employees may take FFCRA leave only when work is actually available to them.  If you must close your business because of the virus and work isn’t available for your staff to perform, they do not qualify for FFCRA leave.
  • Reaffirm that employees must have their employer’s approval to take intermittent FFCRA leave.  The employer and employee should come to an agreement about the leave they are wanting to take.
  • Revise the definition of “health care provider” to include “only employees who meet the definition of that term under the Family and Medical Leave Act regulations or who are employed to provide diagnostic services, preventative services, treatment services or other services that are integrated with and necessary to the provision of patient care which, if not provided, would adversely impact patient care.”
  • Clarify that employees must provide employers with documentation as soon as possible supporting their need for FFCRA leave.  This changed from needing to provide documentation before leave is taken.  It is essential to get documentation from your employees.

To read my original article about the FFCRA leave click on the link, https://www.ktllp.cpa/families-first-coronavirus-response-act/.