Thursday, April 22, 2021
While the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) expired on December 31, 2020, a subsequent congressional amendment allowed employers to voluntarily provide emergency paid sick leave (“EPSL”) and expanded FMLA (“EFMLA”) leave, and to receive related incentive tax credits for providing that leave, until March 31, 2021. On March 11, 2021, President Joe Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “Rescue Plan”), which, effective April 1, 2021, grants tax credits to employers with 500 or fewer employees who voluntarily elect to provide qualified employees with EPSL and EFMLA for COVID-19 related reasons, as described below. The Rescue Plan’s EPSL and EFMLA provisions are set to expire on September 30, 2021.
Thursday, April 1, 2021
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), which extends and expands several provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).
Tax Credit Extensions
As employers will recall, the FFCRA tax credit had been extended through March 31, 2021 to qualifying employers that voluntarily chose to continue to provide Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSL) or Emergency Paid Family Leave (EPFL). The ARPA has now extended the FFCRA from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021.
Emergency Paid Sick Leave and Emergency Paid Family Leave Extensions
Under the ARPA, employers are eligible for the tax credit if employers voluntarily provide employees up to 80 hours of EPSL from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021. This includes employees who have already used their 80 hours under the FFCRA, essentially creating a refresh of EPSL for all employees.
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.
Wednesday, December 30, 2020
On December 27, 2020, President Donald Trump signed into law House Bill 133, an expansive spending bill that provides economic relief, extends unemployment insurance benefits, and expands the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act’s Paycheck Protection Program.
The bill
did not extend the mandatory paid leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act’s (FFCRA) Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLA), both of which will expire on December 31, 2020. However, the bill does provide employers the
option to continue providing FFCRA leave and receive a tax credit through March 31, 2021.
Stated more simply, employers may choose to continue providing paid leave to employees consistent with the FFCRA requirements and claim related tax credits until March 31, 2021, but employers are not required to do so.