Amid COVID-19 and its impact, HR professionals need to be aware of these new rules and protections in the workplace to consult your employer and employees. Here is a break down of some important rules in the United States.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Employees who have worked for their employer for at least 12 months and have at least 1250 hours of service over the past 12 months will be eligible for 12 weeks of job-protected leave. The work has to be at a location where at least 50 employees are employed by the same company within 75 miles.
■The first 10 days of the emergency leave can be unpaid, although employees may elect to use other paid benefits (accrued vacation/PTO, accrued sick leave, etc.) to cover that time.
■For full-time employees, the remaining time must be paid at two-thirds of the employee’s regular rate of pay, for the number of hours the employee would otherwise be scheduled to work—this amount is capped to $200 per day and $10,000 in the aggregate, per employee.
Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act
This covers both full and part-time workers who are unable to work or telework because of the need to take emergency sick leave.
If the employees work full time, then he/she may take up to 80 hrs of paid sick leave, if meeting these conditions:
■ Subjected to local quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19
■Advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to COVID-19 concerns; and/or
■Experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis.
Emergency paid sick leave wages are however capped and once the employee reachs the cap, the rest of his/her leave is unpaid. Note that this is not a requirement for the company and not all employers are covered under this.
Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA or Act) requires certain employers to provide their employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19. This act is effective through December 31, 2020.
The act compels employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide paid family leave to employees with 30 days or more of tenure.
Under the FFCRA, an employee qualifies for paid sick time if the employee is unable to work (or unable to telework) due to a need for leave because the employee:
- is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19;
- has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine related to COVID-19;
- is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis;
- is caring for an individual subject to an order described in (1) or self-quarantine as described in (2);
- is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed (or child care provider is unavailable) for reasons related to COVID-19; or
- is experiencing any other substantially-similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of Labor and Treasury.
How will your companies pay for this?
The employers can look into tax credits to ease the financial burden of providing leaves, funding options, disaster loans, insurance coverage, and other types of financial supports from the government and financial instituations.
In the end of the day, your workforce capacity will be impacted by COVID-19. Proactively plan to support your employees to ensure they have the ability to fulfill their job duties while protected.