You don't have to provide leave of absence if employee, family aren't ill

QOne of our building inspectors has requested a leave of absence because of COVID-19. He is living with his parents, who are both over 60, and is worried about exposing them to the virus because he can come into contact with 200 or more people in a single day. What can we do for him?

Since your employee's decision to stay home with his parents, who are not sick or under a quarantine order, is completely voluntary and solely to avoid tertiary exposure to his parents, the scenario you describe is not a qualifying circumstance for paid leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). You might explore whether your employee can perform any aspect of his job from home, but if your employee's job is not one that lends itself to any kind of "work from home," your only options appear to be termination or some kind of furlough status.

Q Our total workforce is 26 employees, and we have elected not to adopt a Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) policy. Under the recently approved FFCRA, do we need to adopt a full FMLA policy, or can we simply comply with the income protection features of this temporary federal legislation?