Update: What you need to know about pandemic leave policies in 2021
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Pandemic leave policies are a hot topic in 2021 after many of the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act’s (FFCRA) federal mandatory provisions expired at the end of 2020. The FFCRA – the first comprehensive federal paid leave law – set the floor for COVID-19 leave. Its sunset doesn’t mean, however, that employers are off the hook. Instead, they have to deal with a patchwork of leave laws – some specific to COVID and some not.
Some state and municipal leave acts still require employers to offer paid COVID-related leave in 2021. And some of your employees are still going to need time off for COVID-related reasons. Many employees are still working remotely. Others are on altered schedules. Working parents still confront childcare challenges, and vaccines are rolling out more slowly than predicted.
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Extension of Credit for Paid Leave Provided When There Is No State or Local Law Mandating Such Paid Leave
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”) amended many provisions. It amended the employer credit under code section 45S(i), which provides a credit to an employer for providing paid family and medical leave to employees who are not eligible for the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. The credit ranges between 12.5% and 25% of the amount paid towards a paid leave. This is a tax credit added by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), and it does not count paid leave that was mandated by any state or federal government. It does not apply to an employer who is subject to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. It applies to employees who have been employed for one year or longer, and who in the preceding year had not had compensation greater than 60% of the highly compensated employee compensation limit for
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After much heated negotiation in passing Stimulus 2.0, Congress reached a compromise on employee COVID-19 leave, allowing the leave requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) to expire on December 31, 2020, but continuing tax credits through March 31, 2021 for employers who choose to voluntarily provide paid leave after that date. Now that employers with fewer than 500 employees are no longer
obligated to provide FFRCA leave, many are left wondering whether they
should continue to provide leave for their employees who are impacted by COVID-19. This article aims to provide an overview of the state of the law and provide employers with the pros and cons of continuing to provide FFCRA leave to make the best decision for their workplace.
Wednesday, January 6, 2021
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed the much-anticipated COVID-19 stimulus bill into law. Among other provisions, the final bill modifies the paid leave provided by the Family First Coronavirus Response Act ( FFCRA ).
Under the FFCRA, certain employers were required to provide Emergency Paid Sick Leave and Expanded Family Medical Leave through December 31, 2020. The new stimulus bill eliminates this obligation and makes the changes described below:
Are employers required to extend FFCRA paid leave beyond December 31, 2020?
No. Under the FFCRA, the requirement to provide paid leave expired on December 31, 2020. The newly enacted stimulus bill does not extend the requirement that employers provide paid leave beyond that date.
Potter County issues COVID-19 leave extension
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act made employee paid sick and family leave mandatory, but in the wake of the act s expiration on Dec. 31, the paid leave is now optional. To that end, the Potter County Commissioners Court has voted to extend the 80 hours of COVID-19 leave beyond Dec. 31, until further action of the Court. We do have some employees that are in the midst of their 80 hours of COVID leave that are currently out, Potter County Human Resources Director Kay Holland said during the court s virtual regular session. We have a handful that are currently out and are in the middle of using that COVID leave. We also have some employees who, thankfully, up to this point, have not had to utilize the 80 hours of COVID leave. I feel like it would behoove us to extend that 80 hours to those employees who have not yet had to utilize that time. Some employees have already had the benefit of the 80 hours or part of the