Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)

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As of January 2021, providing FFCRA paid leave is optional. Employers choosing to provide FFCRA Paid Leave to their employees on a voluntary basis can now receive a payroll tax credit to cover the wages paid through September 30, 2021 (subject to applicable caps). 

Last year, in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which mandated that most employers with fewer than 500 employees provide their workers with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for COVID-19 related reasons. In doing so, employers received payroll tax credits for providing the paid leave. FFCRA’s mandate ended on December 31, 2020.

Congress extended the FFCRA through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 to March 31, 2021 on a voluntary basis to those employers who provided paid leave to qualified employees. Employers voluntarily providing paid leave could continue to receive a tax credit for the wages. On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law another COVID-19 federal stimulus package, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The ARPA extends the FFCRA and the employer tax credits through September 30, 2021 on a voluntary basis. The ARPA also adds qualifying reasons for paid leave.Continue Reading Congress extends payroll tax credits to employers voluntarily providing FFCRA paid leave and expands leave provisions

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), requiring employers with 50-500 employees[1] to provide supplemental paid sick leave and paid family leave to their employees, and California’s statewide COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave requirement expired on December 31, 2020.  While employers may voluntarily continue to provide FFCRA and receive tax credits through March 31, 2021, the FFCRA mandates are now voluntary for employers to continue absent federal legislative action.  Despite this, numerous California counties and cities have extended their COVID-19 paid sick leave ordinances and imposed additional requirements for employers.  To date, these include: Los Angeles (City and County), City of Long Beach, Sacramento (City and County), San Francisco, City of Oakland, San Mateo County, Sonoma County, Santa Rosa, and San Jose.

City of Los Angeles. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti recently revised an order requiring an employer to provide COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (SPSL) if it has 500 or more employees in the city or 2,000 or more employees nationally. The February 10, 2021 revised order expanded coverage and provides SPSL benefits to employees employed with the same employer for 60 days, and expanded coverage to employees hired on or after March 5, 2020. Most importantly, the revised order mandates that employers calculate SPSL based on the employee’s respective two-week average pay over the last 60 days of employment. The order remains in effect until two calendar weeks after the expiration of the County of Los Angeles local emergency period.
Continue Reading Brief refresher for California employers: 2021 updates to local COVID-19 paid sick leave requirements

As addressed in Part 1 of this article, the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH) issued new orders on November 17, 2020 targeted at mitigating the recent surge of COVID-19 cases within the Commonwealth in recent weeks.  Part 1 focused on the new face covering requirements now imposed on all Pennsylvanians.  This article focuses on new the requirements for testing and quarantine following out-of-state travel established by the DOH and the impact that the new travel requirements might have on Pennsylvania employers.

New out-of-state travel requirements

The Order of the Secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Health for Mitigation Relating to Travel, mandates that individuals traveling into the Commonwealth from any other state – regardless of whether the individual resides in another state and is travelling to Pennsylvania or the individual is a Pennsylvania resident returning from out-of-state travel – produce evidence of a negative COVID-19 test from a specimen collected within 72 hours prior to entering the Commonwealth.  Individuals who do not have a negative COVID-19 test are required to quarantine for 14 days, and may only leave their homes to receive testing or other necessary medical services.  Failure to comply with the order may result in the imposition of a fine ranging from $25.00 to $300.00.  These newly instituted requirements take effect on Friday, November 20, 2020.
Continue Reading Pennsylvania employers and employees receive the gift of new post-travel testing/quarantine requirements for the holiday season (Part II)

On May 1, 2020, Councilmember Kendra Brooks (At Large) announced a proposed bill, co-sponsored by Helen Gym (At Large) and Bobby Henon (6th District), that would increase the amount of paid sick leave available to workers who continue to physically report to their jobs during a “public health emergency.” This bill comes on the heels of much outcry from state and local officials hoping to address the fact that millions of workers have been excluded from federal emergency paid leave during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act create certain emergency sick time provisions for workers, these statutes exclude many employees. In Pennsylvania alone, more than 3 million workers have been excluded the law’s exemptions. The Brooks bill would certainly address these shortcomings.
Continue Reading Philadelphia councilmembers propose bill to increase paid sick leave for many federally excluded employees

As shutdown orders begin to subside and states across the nation take steps toward reopening, employers should prepare for a potential spike in employment claims arising out of new legislation, the application of existing laws to novel workplace circumstances and a sudden downturn in the economy. Below is a summary of some of the claims that employers can expect to receive in the coming months.

Claims stemming from layoffs, furloughs and recalls to work

Employers may see claims brought by individuals who allege that they were not given proper notice of, and/or were discriminated against, in an employer’s selection of employees to terminate, furlough or recall following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) and parallel state “mini-WARN” acts generally require covered employers to provide advance notice (usually 60 days) of a mass layoff or a significant reduction in hours.  As a result of the shutdown orders across the country, many non-essential businesses were abruptly forced to significantly slow or completely halt operations. Consequently, these businesses were forced to furlough or lay off their workforces with little or no notice. Employers that were unable to give requisite WARN notice (or gave no notice at all) may see an influx of claims seeking potential damages for back pay and fringe benefits for each day of violation, as well as for civil penalties. Unfortunately, the U.S. Department of Labor has yet to provide clear guidance as to whether the unforeseeable business circumstances or natural disaster exceptions will apply to businesses impacted by these shut-down orders.
Continue Reading Employers Beware: Post-pandemic litigation traps

On April 7, 2020, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti suspended a paid sick leave ordinance by the Los Angeles City Council and signed an emergency order providing for mandatory paid sick leave for many large employers with essential employees working in the City of Los Angeles (L.A. Supplemental PSL), effective immediately.

Existing Los Angeles City paid sick leave laws already surpassed California state law mandates by providing twice the minimum allotment under state law. Under the existing Los Angeles City paid sick leave ordinance, employers were already required to provide employees with at least 48 hours (six days) of paid sick leave or one hour for every 30 hours worked.

The recent enactment of the federal paid sick leave provision of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) applies only to companies with fewer than 500 employees. The L.A. Supplemental PSL now seeks to “bridge the gap” by creating mandatory paid sick leave for the Los Angeles employees of many larger employers who are not bound by the FFCRA.
Continue Reading Los Angeles emergency order mandates supplemental paid sick leave for large employers

Updated April 4, 2020

Effective April 1, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA or Act) requires certain private sector employers with fewer than 500 employees and governmental employers of all sizes to provide their employees with emergency paid sick leave and emergency paid medical leave. More information about the FFCRA is available here.

Given the current unknowns, many employers are evaluating the financial implications of the Act’s expansive mandatory paid leave and making difficult decisions, including reducing head count.

To incentivize employers (in particular, those deemed essential under various shelter orders) to retain their employees and bear the costs of emergency paid leave, the FFCRA offers covered employers a refundable payroll tax credit. This tax credit offsets the cost of the paid leaves required under the Act, and could make all the difference for certain businesses concerned that the cost of these paid leaves will run them out of business. Here’s how it works.Continue Reading FFCRA payroll tax credits: Here’s how it works

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), both enacted last week, provide significant new federal benefits to small businesses and their employees. Critically, both statutes target smaller employers. To that end, they each contain provisions that are only applicable to employers with fewer than 500 employees. However, each statute counts employees differently. This distinction in counting methods between the statutes presents a dangerous compliance trap for the unwary.
Continue Reading Counting employees under FFCRA and the CARES Act is not necessarily as easy as 1-2-3