NY federal court invalidates parts of 4 FFCRA regs

On August 3, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) invalidated four key parts of a “final rule” promulgated by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that provided guidance on paid leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Read on to understand how this affects your business.

Background

It seems ages ago, but on March 18, Congress passed the FFCRA, a relief bill that provided paid leave to individuals affected by COVID-19. The Act provided two paid leave statutes that are scheduled to end on December 31, 2020—the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA). In addition to the FFCRA, recall that New York has its own quarantine paid sick leave benefit.

Under the EPSLA, covered employers (those with fewer than 500 employees) must provide up to 80 hours of paid sick time to each eligible employee to the extent she is unable to work (or telework) because of one of the following six qualifying reasons: