1. COVID-19 Leave Laws
Delegal & Poindexter, P.A.
424 E. Monroe Street
Jacksonville, FL 32202
www.protectingcareers.com
(904)633-5000
The information contained in these materials is not intended to be legal advice and should not be relied upon as
such. If you have questions about your rights as an employee, or believe you may have a legal claim, it is
important that you speak to a qualified attorney as soon as possible.
2. Family and Medical Leave Act
Congress passed The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993,
which is a law that requires covered employers to provide
employees with job-protected and unpaid leave for qualified
medical and family reasons.
3. Family and Medical Leave Act
To whom does is apply?
Applies to employers with 50 or more employees each
working day during at least 20 calendar weeks in the
current or preceding calendar year.
Applies to employees who:
Are employed by a covered employer;
Work at a worksite within 75 miles of which that employer
employs at least 50 people;
Have worked at least 12 months (which do not have to be
consecutive) for the employer; and
Have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months
immediately before the date FMLA leave is to begin.
4. Family and Medical Leave Act
What does it cover?
Twelve workweeks of unpaid leave in any 12-month period for:
the birth of a child and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth;
the placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to care
for the newly placed child within one year of placement;
to care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health
condition;
a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the
essential functions of his or her job; or
any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son,
daughter, or parent is a covered military member on “covered active duty;”
-or-
Twenty-six workweeks of unpaid leave during a single 12-month period to care
for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness if the employee is
the spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin of the servicemember
(Military Caregiver Leave)
5. Family and Medical Leave Act
What else should I know?
Can be taken intermittently.
When the need for leave is foreseeable, an employee must give the employer
at least 30 days notice, or as much notice as is practicable.
An employer may require that a serious health condition, or a serious illness
or injury of a covered servicemember, be supported by a certification from
the employee's health care provider, the employee’s family member’s health
care provider, or an authorized health care provider of the covered
servicemember.
An employer may also require periodic reports of the employee's status and
intent to return to work during the leave.
Additionally, under certain conditions, an employer may require that an
employee who takes FMLA leave for his or her own serious health condition
submit a "fitness for duty" certification from the employee’s health care
provider that the employee is able to return to work.
6. Family and Medical Leave Act
What else should I know?
An employee who returns from FMLA leave is entitled to be
restored to the same or an equivalent job with equivalent pay,
benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment.
Eligible employees of covered employers have a right to take
job-protected leave for qualifying events without interference
or restraint from their employers and without being retaliated
against for exercising or attempting to exercise their FMLA
rights.
Employees have the right to file a complaint with the Wage and
Hour Division, file a private lawsuit under the Act (or cause a
complaint or lawsuit to be filed), and testify or cooperate in
other ways with an investigation or lawsuit without being fired
or discriminated against in any other manner.
7. What Changed?
Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act
(“FFCRA”), which:
Amended the Family and Medical Leave Act to provide
relief to employees who cannot work due to the need to
provide child care to their kid(s); and
Created a new emergency sick leave law that provides for
employees to receive up to two weeks of paid sick leave
8. Emergency Family and Medical
Leave Act Expansion Act
To whom does it apply?
All of the rights and obligations under the Family and
Medical Leave Act are still in existence and not expanded
The new provisions apply to all employers with fewer than
500 employees
Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may qualify
for exemption from the requirement to provide leave due to
school closings or child care unavailability if the leave
requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business
as a going concern.
The new provisions apply to all employees of a covered
employer who have been employed for at least thirty days
9. Emergency Family and Medical
Leave Act Expansion Act
What does it cover?
Employees who are unable to work or telework because they
must provide care for a child due to school or daycare
closures, or the child’s childcare worker not being available
due to COVID-19 concerns are entitled to ten days of job
protected, unpaid leave, followed by ten-weeks of paid
leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay.
The paid portion of the leave cannot exceed $200 per day
10. Family and Medical Leave Act
Does the FMLA or EFMLAEA cover employees with COVID-19?
Most people who contract COVID-19 have very mild
symptoms that do not prevent them from performing the
essential functions of their jobs
Some people who contract COVID-19 have severe
symptoms and/or require hospitalization and would
qualify for FMLA leave if the employee and the employer
are covered by the law
Emergency FMLA Expansion Act only provides leave related
to childcare for employees who have been employed for
more than thirty days
What if an employee needs leave for some other COVID-
19-related reason?
11. Emergency Paid Sick Leave
To whom does it apply?
Same employers as the Emergency FMLA Expansion Act
The new provisions apply to all employers with fewer than
500 employees
Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may qualify for
exemption from the requirement to provide leave due to
school closings or child care unavailability if the leave
requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business as
a going concern.
Unlike the Emergency FMLA Expansion Act, which only
applies to employees who have been employed for at least
thirty days, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave law applies to
all employees, regardless of length of employment.
12. Emergency Paid Sick Leave
What does it cover?
Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at the employee’s regular rate of
pay (up to $511/day) where the employee is unable to work because:
the employee is quarantined (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order);
the employee is quarantined based on advice of a health care provider); and/or
the employee is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis
-or-
Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at two-thirds the employee’s
regular rate of pay (up to $200/day) because:
the employee is unable to work because of a bona fide need to care for an individual
subject to quarantine (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of
a health care provider); or
care for a child (under 18 years of age) whose school or child care provider is closed or
unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19; and/or
the employee is experiencing a substantially similar condition as specified by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of the
Treasury and Labor.
13. Employer Retaliation
As is the case with most employment laws, employers may not discharge,
discipline, or otherwise discriminate against any employee who takes
paid sick leave under the FFCRA and files a complaint or institutes a
proceeding under or related to the FFCRA.
14. Employers in violation of the first two weeks’ paid sick time or unlawful
termination provisions of the FFCRA will be subject to the penalties and
enforcement described in Sections 16 and 17 of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
29 U.S.C. 216; 217.
Employers in violation of the provisions providing for up to an additional 10
weeks of paid leave to care for a child whose school or place of care is
closed (or child care provider is unavailable) are subject to the enforcement
provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act.
The Department will observe a temporary period of non-enforcement for the
first 30 days after the Act takes effect, so long as the employer has acted
reasonably and in good faith to comply with the Act.
For purposes of this non-enforcement position, “good faith” exists when
violations are remedied and the employee is made whole as soon as
practicable by the employer, the violations were not willful, and the
Department receives a written commitment from the employer to comply
with the Act in the future.
Penalties and Enforcement
15. If you believe your employer is:
refusing to provide you with leave to which you are entitled under the
new Families First Coronavirus Response Act;
retaliating against you for taking such leave; or
interfering with your right to take such leave
You should consult with a qualified labor and employment
attorney as soon as possible.
There are strict time limitations associated with pursuing certain causes of action, and
any delay in pursuing such legal action could result in your ability to do so.
What Should I Do?
