U.S. Department of Labor to host online dialogue on paid leave

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Labor is hosting a national online dialogue, Providing Expanded Family and Medical Leave to Employees Affected by COVID-19,to help employers and workers understand their responsibilities and rights, respectively, under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

The public, including employers, workers and their advocacy groups can participate in the online forum through Sunday, March 29. The department’s Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI), in partnership with Wage and Hourly Division (WHD) and the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), will host the dialogue. ODEP’s ePolicyWorks will facilitate the dialogue initiative. Please register to participate.

Wage and Hour Division Administrator Cheryl Stanton said the  national online dialogue will be used to seek input from key stakeholders about the best ways to help employers and workers understand their responsibilities and rights in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It’s an important discussion that will allow the Wage and Hour Division to develop compliance assistance materials that are responsive to the evolving needs of American employers and workers,” Stanton said.

WHD will use the ideas and comments gathered from this dialogue to develop compliance assistance guidance, resources and tools, as well as outreach approaches that assist employers and workers in understanding their responsibilities and rights under the paid leave provisions of the FFCRA.

On March 18, the President signed into law the FFCRA, requiring certain employers to provide employees with paid family and medical leave or paid sick leave for specified reasons in response to COVID-19.

The department’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) will administer and enforce the paid leave provisions of the FFCRA. The provisions will apply from their effective date through Dec. 31, 2020.

Generally, the FFCRA provides that employees of covered employers are eligible for:

• Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick timeat the employee’s regular rate of paywhere the employee is unable to work because the employee is quarantined (pursuant to federal, state, or local government order or advice of a healthcare provider), and/or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis; or
• Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick timeat two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of paybecause the employee is unable to work because of a need to care for an individual subject to quarantine (pursuant to federal, state, or local government order or advice of a healthcare provider), or to care for a child (under 18 years of age) whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19, and/or the employee is experiencing a substantially similar condition as specified by the Department of Health and Human Services; and
• Up to an additional 10 weeks of paid family and medical leaveat two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of paywhere an employee, who has been employed for at least 30 calendar days, is unable to work due to a need for leave to care for a child whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19.