COVID-19: Employee Paid Leave - Families First Coronavirus Response Act

On Thursday, March 19, we shared and participated in a call with Senator Toomey shortly after President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRC). On that call he discusses some more details about what that means for employers and their employees. You can listen to the call recording here.

Two major pieces of this legislation are as follows: 

• If you have fewer than 500 employees, your business is required to provide paid leave under both programs
• If you have under 50 employees, though, you may be exempted from the requirement to provide leave under both programs

Below is a summary about the FFCRC provided to us by the Pennsylvania Small Business Development Center. 
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Also a Paid Leave Employer Guide from the US Chamber of Commerce. 

..PAID SICK LEAVE FOR YOU AND YOUR EMPLOYEES. 
Here are the details:
a. COMPANIES WITH 500 OR FEWER EMPLOYEES must provide:

• paid sick leave – 2 weeks paid leave at 100% of employee’s normal pay, up to $511 per day
• paid family and medical leave – additional 12 weeks of paid family and medical leave at 67% of normal pay, up to $200 per day (small businesses can apply for a waiver of this in some limited circumstances)

b. SMALL BUSINESSES WILL GET A TAX CREDIT TO COVER THE COSTS.
c. GIG WORKERS AND INDEPENDENT CONTRACTORS get the same benefits in form of a tax credit. 
 
What this means for you: 
Small businesses: you must provide paid sick leave and/or family/medical leave for any of your payroll workers (not contractors). The government will pick up the cost of this paid leave—by applying a credit for your 6.2% payroll social security taxes. If the credit is insufficient to cover those costs, the government will pay you directly. You or your workers do not have to be sick to qualify! Anyone told to quarantine, who is exposed to the virus, showing symptoms, or needs to get tests or preventive care qualifies. Family leave is easier—up to 3 months of paid leave to adhere to quarantine, take care of a sick family member or a child who is home because of their school being closed. 

Gig worker/independent contractor: if you are paid by another company (e.g., a ride share company, a caterer, a worker platform like Upwork, another contracting company), you’re eligible for a tax credit of up to 2 weeks sick leave at your average pay and 12 weeks of family/medical leave at 2/3 your average pay. The same caps apply--$511/$200 per day. You must show you had to comply with self-isolation or care for family members, including children whose schools had been closed due to the coronavirus. Tax credits will be applied against your tax payments, or you will get a rebate if your tax is lower than the credit. 

View the bill in it's entirety here.
PA Department of Labor breaks it all down here.