WE RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING FROM THE NATIONAL UNION, PROVIDING THE DETAILS OF THE FAMILIES FIRST CORONA VIRUS RESPONSE ACT:
JAMES SLEVIN
PRESIDENT
MICHAEL COLEMAN
SECRETARY-TREASURER
PATRICK M. DILLON
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
JOHN DUFFY
VICE PRESIDENT
Affiliated with A.F.L.-C.1.0
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WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005
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Summary of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act for UWUA Officers, Staff and Local Unions
The “Families First Coronavirus Response Act” (H.R. 6201) was signed into law on March 18, 2020. It becomes effective not later than 15 days after it was enacted. The additional benefits set forth below expire on December 31, 2020.
Employers and Employees Covered
The new law provides for paid FMLA leave and provides for paid sick leave related to COVID-19. Both the paid FMLA and paid sick leave provisions apply only to private . employers with fewer than 500 employees and most public employers.
The new law allows an employer of an employee who is a healthcare provider or an emergency responder to elect to exclude its employee from the application of the two provisions.
In addition, the new law allows subsequent U.S. Department of Labor regulations to exempt small businesses with fewer than 50 employees when the provision would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern.
The New Law Expands FMLA Benefits to Address COVID-19
The Act amends the FMLA to allow an employee who is unable to work (or telework) to take leave due to a need to care for the employee’s child if the child’s elementary or secondary school or place of care has been closed, or the childcare provider is unavailable, due to a “public health emergency.” A public health emergency means an emergency with respect to COVID-19 declared by a federal, state, or local authority.
Under the FMLA provisions, when leave is needed due to a school or day care closure, the employer can provide the first 10 days of leave unpaid, then subsequent absences will be paid at 2/3 the employee’s regular rate of pay. The Act caps the pay at $200 a day and $10,000 in aggregate. If the first 10 days are unpaid, an employee may elect to
substitute any accrued vacation leave, personal leave, or medical/sick leave for the unpaid leave.
Paid Sick Leave for COVID-19
The Act also adds a paid sick leave requirement. Employers covered by the new law must immediately make available 80 hours of paid sick leave for full-time employees and the equivalent of the average number of hours worked over two weeks for part time employees for the following reasons:
• The employee is subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19.
• The employee has been advised by a healthcare provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19.
• The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis.
Paid sick leave for one of the reasons described above is paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay and is capped at $511 per day and $5,110 in total.
Paid sick leave is also available for the following reasons:
• The employee is caring for an individual who is subject to a quarantine, isolation or self-quarantine order as described above.
• The employee is caring for their son or daughter if the school or place of care of the son or daughter has been closed, or the childcare provider of the son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID-19 precautions.
• The employee is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor·.
Leave for one of the reasons described above is paid at two-thirds of an employee’s regular rate and is capped at $200 per day and $2,000 in in total.
The new law offers job protection, but the FMLA’s requirement that an employee be restored to the same or equivalent position after leave does not apply to an employer with fewer than 25 employees if the employee’s position no longer exists due to economic conditions or other changes in the employer’s operations that affect employment and are caused by the public health crisis during the period of leave.
However, even in those circumstances, the employer must make reasonable efforts to restore the employee to the same or an equivalent position, and if the reasonable efforts fail, the employer must make efforts to contact the employee and reinstate the employee if an equivalent position becomes available within a one-year period beginning on the earlier of (a) the date on which the qualifying need related to a public
health emergency concludes, or (b) the date that is 12 weeks after the date the employee’s leave started.
Miscellaneous Issues
An employer may not require an employee to use other paid leave provided by the employer before the employee uses the paid sick leave available under the Act.
The entire 80 hours of paid sick leave (or the formula amount for part time employees) is available immediately.
The new FMLA provisions apply to employees who have been employed for at least 30 calendar days. The usual FMLA requirements are not applicable.
The paid sick leave requirements apply to all employees of the employers covered by the law.
As for notice by the employees to their employers, the FMLA provisions require employees to provide the employer with “notice of leave as is practicable.”
The paid sick leave provisions state that after the first workday (or portion thereof) that an employee receives paid sick leave, an employer may require the employee to follow reasonable notice procedures in order to continue receiving the paid sick leave.
The 500 employee limit is determined by the company as a whole, not just the location. For instance, because Pennsylvania American Water has more than 500 employees in total, it is not a covered employer even though it has many locations in Pennsylvania, none of which have 500 employees. Of course, UWUA-represented employers with more than 500 employees still must follow the terms of the CBA and/or state or local law which provide for additional benefits.
Unused paid sick leave under the new law does not carry over from one year to the next.
3/20/20