Some employees who have to take off because of the coronavirus can get sick leave pay
A pot of money held by the federal government became available Wednesday for people who do not have sick leave benefits but need to take off from work due to the coronavirus pandemic.
President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act on March 18 requiring employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide their workers hit by the pandemic with a certain amount of paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave.
“It was just assumed that employers of more than 500 people provide paid sick leave, which is not true,” said Drew Herrmann, a Fort Worth employment lawyer.
Herrmann said he has no indication that many employees are aware that these benefits are available. The federal benefit becomes available on the heels of municipal sick leave pay ordinances in Austin and San Antonio being declared unconstitutional in the state courts and a federal judge blocking a municipal ordinance in Dallas that would have provided workers with paid sick leave.
Both full- and part-time employees are eligible for the federal benefit, according to U.S. Department of Labor documents.
But, and this is a big but, to qualify for these benefits the employee must meet one of these specific conditions:
▪ Is under a quarantine or isolation order because of COVID-19.
▪ Was told by a healthcare provider to self-quarantine because of COVID-19.
▪ Is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis.
▪ Is caring for an individual subject to a quarantine order or who is under self-quarantine because of COVID-19.
▪ Is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed, or if their child care provider is unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19.
▪ Or is experiencing any other substantially-similar condition specified by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the U.S. Secretaries of Labor and Treasury.
One more thing, the employee must not have been able to work from home in order to receive benefits.
How much an employee can receive in sick leave benefits depends on which category fits their situation. And these benefits are scheduled to go away at the end of the year.
Although many schools have been closed for weeks now, the Act is not retroactive, according to David Berndt, senior HR advisor with G&A Partners, a Houston-based human resources provider.
Employees who request paid sick leave from their employer can receive maximum of 80 hours at their regular pay or up to $5,110, if the employee is under a quarantine order or is awaiting a medical COVID-19 diagnosis while experiencing symptoms believed to be related to the disease, Labor Department documents state.
Those employees providing child care because of a school closure or because child care is no longer available due to the pandemic or who are taking care of someone under a quarantine order are eligible for up to 80 hours for two-thirds of their regular pay, with a maximum of $2,000.
Eligible employees may also receive up to an additional 10 weeks of paid expanded family and medical leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay where an employee, who has been employed for at least 30 calendar days, is unable to work because they need to care for a child whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19.
Employers with fewer than 50 employees may be eligible for an 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.
Employers can receive a dollar for dollar tax credit if they provide sick leave for employees under this requirement on their quarterly tax filings. For example, if an employer paid $8,000 in sick leave to a qualified employee and was required to pay $5,000 in taxes for that quarter, the employer could use the entire $5,000 of taxes in order to make qualified leave payments, and then file a request for an accelerated credit for the remaining $3,000, according to Berndt.
Independent contractors or members of the so-called gig economy, are also eligible to receive a tax credit for sick time in the form when they file their quarterly tax returns, Berndt said.
“Employers and independent contractors must keep accurate records in order to get those reimbursements,” Berndt said.
Berndt said his company, federal agencies and business organizations have been communicating with their members to get the word out that the federal benefit would be available on Wednesday. It is in an employer’s best interest to share the information with their employees, Berndt said.
“If I am the employer, I would want my employees to know about this,” Berndt said. “I have nothing to lose and a lot to gain in goodwill to share this information with employees. This is a great way to keep the country running during a very difficult situation.”
