Return to school raises FFCRA leave questions

With kids going back to school, new questions about eligibility for paid leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) are cropping up. The FFCRA, which remains in effect until December 31, 2020, requires employers to provide all employees with two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave for one of the specified reasons related to COVID-19.

FFCRA recap

Under the FFCRA, employees are entitled to two weeks of paid sick leave at two-thirds their regular rate of pay if they are unable to work due to a bona fide need to care for a child (under 18 years of age) whose school or childcare provider is closed or unavailable related to COVID-19. Employees may take up to two weeks of paid sick leave, however, for any combination of qualifying reasons, so tracking leave and the reason(s) is key. And, if they have been employed for at least 30 days, you must provide up to an additional 10 weeks of paid expanded family and medical leave for the same reason.

Time taken under the expanded leave provision counts against the employees’ entitlement to 12 weeks of Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave in a 12-month period, so if they have already exhausted FMLA leave, they aren’t entitled to additional leave under the expanded family and medical leave of the FFCRA.

Landscape has changed since spring semester

In the spring, questions regarding the need to stay home with kids whose schools were closed were clearer because for the most part, schools were either closed or operating remotely.