Share
As the dust settles on the tumultuous journey of the final 2020 COVID-19 relief package, it is now clear that as employers with fewer than 500 employees move into 2021, they will no longer be
legally required to provide employees with leaves of absence under the two leave laws Congress passed last March as part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Since April 1, both of these laws, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA) have provided employees with paid and job-protected leaves of absence for qualifying COVID-19-related reasons, while providing employers with the ability to receive tax credits against the costs of these benefits. Both were enacted with Dec. 31, 2020, sunset provisions. Although Congress could still conceivably do so in later legislation, it has not extended FFCRA’s leave entitlements into 2021. This does not, however, end the story for employers who have been obligated in 2020 to provide FFCRA leave.