If your business employs 500 or fewer employees, you’ll most likely need to comply with requirements of the Families First Act – which came into effect 4/1/2020 as a result of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. The tough part about dealing with the new requirements of Emergency Sick Leave as well as Emergency Family Medical Leave is that without an HR manager or Outsourced HR department, the small business owner is faced with attempting to implement the requirements without many resources, while still running the business and making tough decisions about operations.
Let’s drill down into implementation of EMERGENCY SICK and EMERGENCY FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE, so whether or not you have an HR function, you’ll know the basics.
Paid sick time is immediately available for all your eligible employees and may be taken for any of the following 6 reasons.
Full-time employees are entitled to up to two weeks (80 hours) and part-time employees are entitled to the equal number of hours that they work on average over a two-week period.
For your eligible employees, they may take up to 12 weeks of job protected leave due to employee being unable to work (not be offered telework options), who is required to care for their son or daughter (under 18 years of age) where the place of care has been closed, or the childcare provider is unavailable.
Employees should provide written notice to the employer when at all possible.
Emergency FMLA is available when childcare or schools are closed under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA):
[NOTE] Be prepared – some employees may elect their employer-sponsored PTO, sick, or vacation time since this would be paid at 100% versus the 2/3 pay provided by the FFCRA.
Yes, the employer must make a reasonable attempt to return the employee to work for up to a year following leave.
Some exceptions apply to job reinstatement for employers with less than 25 employees if certain conditions are met:
This whole thing can be very confusing, especially if you don’t have a clear-cut HR function, human resources department, or outsourced HR to help you through this. Click Here to download our employer’s resource guide on dealing with COVID-19 in the workplace.
And if you need help creating furlough or layoff letters, we have samples for those as well. Keep in mind, adjusting your policies and employee handbook to address the requirements of the Families First Act is critical. And don’t forget to post the Department of Labor’s notice outlining the employee rights during COVID-19.
We’d all like to have a crystal ball to know what the new workplace is going to look like, but instead, we have to take a few guesses about how we adjust to our new normal post-COVID-19.
What should we be thinking about as a business owner after we get through this period?
As we get on the other side of “stay at home” and “shelter in place” orders, successful leaders will evaluate small business and employee needs and will find ways HR can save money in the “new environment.” In preparing for rapid opportunities for growth, take the time to find the tools, resources, and HR experts to help create a solid plan for preparing your business to thrive on the other side of COVID-19.
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