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After months of negotiations, on December 22, 2020, Congress overwhelmingly passed a bi-partisan COVID-19 relief package – the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (“CAA 2021”) – that includes approximately 900 billion dollars in various pandemic-related relief measures. President Trump signed the legislation on Sunday, December 27. While encompassing nearly 5600 pages of text, very little of the statute focuses on the closely-watched leave entitlements in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) created by Congress earlier this year. These leave entitlements, which became effective on April 1, 2020, are still scheduled to expire on Thursday, December 31, 2020.
As we discussed at length in previous Legal Alerts (available here), the FFCRA created two separate paid leave provisions related to COVID-19 – the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (“EPSLA”) and the Emergency Family and Medical Le
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As 2020 comes to an end and we seek to close the books on what can only be described as an unprecedented, exhausting year, many employers are wondering what happens to the COVID-19-related benefits provided through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act and Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (“FFCRA”), some of which have either already expired or are due to sunset on December 31st. While the fate of this legislation hung in the balance for a few tenuous weeks, as Congressional leaders duked out the details of another stimulus package, in a last minute push, Congress passed a new $900 billion stimulus bill, which, after additional delay, was finally signed into law by President Trump on December 27th.
Who Needs to Know
All employers covered by the FFCRA, employers attempting to recall or hire employees currently receiving unemployment benefits and possibly eligible for extended benefits, and employers who may conduct future furloughs, layoffs, or job eliminations.
Why It Matters
The $900 billion stimulus was passed on the eve of the expiration of several key CARES Act benefits and will have an immediate impact on employers and workers as the calendar turns to 2021.
Late on December 27 and nearly a week after being passed by Congress, President Trump finally signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (the Act) into law. In addition to funding the federal government through the end of September 2021, the Act also allocates $900 billion to COVID-19 relief. Employers will find at least two provisions of the Act particularly interesting: an extension of federal unemployment insurance benefits assistance and tax credits for COVID-19-related leave (but no corresponding mandat
Monday, December 28, 2020
Since April 1, employers with fewer than 500 employees have been required to grant paid leave to their employees for a variety of COVID-related reasons. The two paid-leave provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) (1) created a paid sick-leave benefit for the first time at the federal level, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA), and (2) amended the FMLA to allow for paid leave in the narrow instance of school and child care facility closures due to COVID, the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA). Pursuant to the EPSLA, full-time employees could receive up to 80 hours of paid leave, with certain pay caps depending upon the reason for the leave. Likewise, under the EFMLEA, an employee dealing with a school closing or unavailability of child care, could receive partial pay for up to 10 weeks. Once employers fronted these payments to employees, they could seek reimbursement from the federal gov
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In March 2020, the federal government passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which required employers to provide paid leave to employees under certain circumstances related to the global coronavirus pandemic. The FFCRA contains two main provisions that address employee absences: the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA) and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA). The EFMLEA and the EPSLA were set to expire on December 31, 2020. From the employer’s perspective, an important aspect of the FFCRA included a provision that allowed employers to take payroll tax credits for paid leave provided to employees under the FFCRA. On the other hand, employees knew they would be compensated when they had to miss work for specific COVID-19 related reasons. Everyone benefited from the incentives this legislation provided for employees to stay home from work when necessary to help combat the viru