Department of Labor Guidance and Form Notice Issued for the Families First Coronavirus Response Act
Last updated March 30, 2020
Over the course of the past week, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) has published a required notice for employees and issued guidance to assist employers and employees with understanding their responsibilities and rights under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), which is effective April 1, 2020. Click here to view our prior alert summarizing the FFCRA.
Covered employers under the FFRA must post a notice of the FFCRA requirements in a conspicuous place on its premises. Employers may satisfy this requirement by emailing or direct mailing the notice to employees or posting it on an employee information internal or external website.
The guidance, in the form of questions and answers, provides insight into several pertinent issues concerning the paid sick leave and emergency paid family and medical leave mandated by FFCRA. Specifically, among other things, the guidance discusses calculation of hours for part time workers, documentation required to obtain leave, ability to telework under the FFCRA, the use of intermittent leave, the interplay between these leaves and furloughed or discharged employees, and counting Emergency FMLA leave entitlement against traditional FMLA leave. The guidance also includes the definition of a “health care provider,” and how the small business exemption will function for purposes of their exclusion from the provisions of the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act.
Employers must post and/or distribute the required notice on or before the April 1, 2020 effective date. In addition, employers should also review their pay and leave policies and procedures and prepare to respond to and accommodate employee questions and requests related to the leaves of absences mandated by the FFCRA.
Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC will continue to track the regulatory guidance and regulations that may be issued by the Secretary of Labor in connection with this Act and provide updates. If you have any questions about implementing policies relating to this Act, COVID-19 and/or responding to employee concerns, please feel free to reach out to your CSG attorney or the authors listed here.
For additional information pertaining to the coronavirus outbreak, please visit CSG's COVID-19 Resource Center.
This publication contains general information on recent legal developments and is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Related Attorneys
