NY leave calculations getting complicated in COVID-19 era

On December 27, 2020, President Donald Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, a 5,500-page-plus budget bill containing a $900 billion pandemic stimulus package. Although the Act extends certain tax credits for employers that provided benefits under the now-expired Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), it doesn’t mandate you must continue to provide employees with two key FFCRA benefits: the Expanded Family and Medical Leave Act (EFMLA) or Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSL). Read on to understand the impact on New York employers that are still subject to the New York State Quarantine Paid Sick Law (NYS Q-Law), as well as other state statutory benefits and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

Background

As most of you may recall, the FFCRA mandated two forms of paid leave—EFMLA and EPSL—for employees who are unable to work or telework because of COVID-19.

The EFMLA provides 12 weeks of partially paid leave, which is unpaid for the first two weeks and capped at $200 per day for the final 10 weeks. An employee can substitute other paid leave for the first two weeks.

EPSL provides 80 hours of paid sick leave (capped at $511 per day) to employees who are unable to work or telework for six COVID-19-related “qualifying reasons,” including employees who are subject to a quarantine or isolation order.

No extension of EFMLA or ESPL into 2021