FAMILIES FIRST CORONAVIRUS RESPONSE ACT
HR 6201, passed on March 18, 2020, provides paid sick leave and free coronavirus testing expands food assistance and unemployment benefits and requires employers to provide additional protections for health care workers. In addition, the bill requires the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to issue an emergency temporary standard that requires certain employers to develop and implement a comprehensive infectious disease exposure control plan to protect health care workers. It includes $15 million for the Internal Revenue Service to implement tax credits for paid sick and paid family and medical leave.
DIVISION C – Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act
Section 3102 makes amendments to the family and medical leave act of 1993. This section provides employees of employers with fewer than 500 employees and government employers, who have been on the job for at least 30 days, with the right to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act to be used for any of the following reasons:
• To adhere to a requirement or recommendation to quarantine due to exposure to or symptoms of coronavirus;
• To care for an at-risk family member who is adhering to a requirement or recommendation to quarantine due to exposure to or symptoms of coronavirus; and
• To care for a child of an employee if the child’s school or place of care has been closed, or the child-care provider is unavailable, due to a coronavirus.
After two weeks of paid leave, employees will receive a benefit from their employers that will be no less than two-thirds of the employee’s usual pay.
DIVISION E – Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act
This section of the act requires employers with fewer than 500 employees and government employers to provide employees two weeks of paid sick leave, paid at the employee’s regular rate, to quarantine or seek a diagnosis or preventive care for coronavirus; or paid at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate to care for a family member or to care for a child whose school has closed, or child care provider is unavailable, due to the coronavirus.
• Full-time employees are entitled to 2 weeks (80 hours) and part-time employees are entitled to the typical number of hours that they work in a typical two-week period.
• The bill ensures employees who work under a multiemployer collective agreement and whose employers pay into a multiemployer plan are provided with leave.
The Act, and the requirements under the Act, expire on December 31, 2020.
Division G: Tax Credits for Paid Sick and Paid Family and Medical Leave
Sections 7001-7005 of the legislation allows for tax credits for employers to cover the wage expenses as required by Division C and Division E for paid family and medical leave and paid sick leave.
Credit and Limitation: The law allows a refundable tax credit equivalent to 100 percent of the wages paid for sick, family and medical leave for each calendar quarter through the end of 2020. The maximum amount per employee is:
♦ Paid family leave: $200 per day or $10,000 in aggregate in all quarters.
♦ Sick leave: $511 per day if quarantined or showing symptoms, otherwise $200 per day if employee cares for others or children or experience similar symptoms as COVID-19. The total number of days taken into account for the quarterly eligible wages cannot be more than 10 days minus any sick days taken in previous quarters. In other words, the credit is limited to 10 days.
You can see the entire bill at www.congress.gov.