What Employers Need to Know About the Revised FFCRA Paid Leave Regulations
On September 16, 2020, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) issued revised regulations under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). As we had previously posted, the FFCRA created emergency paid sick leave and emergency expanded family and medical leave in response to COVID-19 illnesses and school closures.
The revised regulations, make five changes / updates to the prior rules:
The reaffirmed that paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave under the FFCRA may only be taken if the employee has work from which to take leave. In other words, if an employer does not have work for an employee, the employee is not eligible for paid leave under the FFCRA.
They reaffirmed that intermittent leave under the FFCRA may only be taken with the employer’s approval.
They revised the definition “health care provider” under the FFCRA and clarified which employees are not eligible for FFCRA paid leave.
They clarified the information that an employee must provide an employer when requesting FFCRA leave.
They clarified an employee requesting expanded family and medical leave must provide notice of the need for leave as soon as practicable and an employee requesting paid sick leave must provide notice of the need for leave after the first workday for which the employee takes paid sick leave.
The FFCRA has greatly expanded employee eligibility for protected and paid leave. Business owners should work with their legal counsel to ensure that they grant leave to employees as required by the FFCRA and other applicable state employee leave laws.
If you have questions about your business’s handling of coronavirus related employment or business issues, please contact us at (201) 345-5412 / (646) 503-5358 or through our online scheduling system.