Labor and Employment Alert: COVID-19 Crisis: DOL Issues Guidance on Compliance with Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)

As reported previously, effective April 1, 2020, the FFCRA requires that employers provide employees with paid sick leave and paid family leave benefits for certain COVID-19-related circumstances. Given the speed with which the FFCRA was passed, it is perhaps not surprising that the law left many employers unsure of their obligations thereunder. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has now issued a series of “Questions and Answers” to provide guidance that will assist employers in complying with the FFCRA. The Questions and Answers address such issues as requesting documentation from employees to support a paid sick or family leave request, whether such leave can be taken on an intermittent basis, and what happens if the employer lays off employees prior and/or subsequent to April 1, 2020. To read the full Questions and Answers, click here.

Employers with up to 500 employees also are reminded that, by no later than April 1, 2020, they must post the new DOL notice regarding the FFCRA. For a copy of the poster, click here. The DOL also has issued guidance on complying with the posting requirement, including guidance on issuing electronic notice to employees that are teleworking. To read the full guidance, click here.