COVID-19 HR Guidance and Best Practices Webinar
Presented by ThinkHR
Federal Law Alert
FFCRA: New Rule and Guidance from DOL and IRS
New FFCRA Guidance in Temporary Rule and FAQs
The Department of Labor (DOL) has released rules related to administration of leaves under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and answered more common questions on their Questions and Answers page. Below are some key highlights to keep in mind when administering these leaves.
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- Documentation: Employers may not require more documentation from employees than is described below. For instance, employers may not request a doctor’s note or an official notice from a closed school or daycare.
- Childcare Provider: The definition of childcare provider includes anyone who generally cares for the children in question. This includes individuals paid to provide childcare, like nannies, au pairs, and babysitters, as well as individuals who provide childcare at no cost and without a license on a regular basis, for example, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or a neighbor.
- Reasons for Self-Quarantine: Employees are only eligible for emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) if a health care provider directs or advises them to self-quarantine because the health care provider believes the employee may have COVID-19 or is particularly vulnerable to COVID-19.
- EPSL due to Stay-at-Home Orders: In some narrow circumstances, an employee who is subject to a stay-at-home order may be able to receive EPSL. They will only be eligible if the business is open and has work for them to do, but a stay-at-home order that applies specifically to them as an individual prevents them from working. For instance, if the retail store where an employee works as a cashier is still open, but the employee is over 65 and subject to an executive order from their governor that all people over 65 should stay home, they would be eligible for EPSL.
- Exempt Healthcare Workers: The exemption for healthcare workers is optional and the DOL encourages employers to be judicious in denying leave (if someone is sick with something that looks like COVID-19, you are encouraged to provide them leave anyway, even if they could be exempted). Healthcare facilities should still post the Employee Rights Poster required by the FFCRA.
- Limited Small Employer Exemption: Although this is not new information, we want to reiterate that small employers are only potentially exempt from the childcare leaves provided by EPSL and emergency Family and Medical Leave Act (EFMLA) leave. For instance, one reason for exemption is that providing leave would cause the employer to cease functioning at a minimal capacity. If a single employee asks for intermittent childcare leave one day per week, but can telework the other four days, that is very unlikely to be a financial burden that causes the employer to cease operations. It would therefore be inappropriate (or illegal) for an employer to announce that they will not be considering or granting any childcare leaves.
IRS Guidance on Required Documentation for Leave Tax Credits
Employers have been anxious to find out what kind of documentation they will need to claim a payroll tax credit. The documentation that can be requested of employees is listed below. The IRS has a very helpful overview and FAQ that covers other common questions about the tax credits in detail.
Employers can substantiate eligibility for the sick leave or family leave credits by receiving a written request from the employee that includes the following:
- Their name;
- The date or dates for which leave is requested;
- A statement of the COVID-19 related reason they are requesting leave and written support for such reason; and
- A statement that they are unable to work, including by means of telework, for such reason.
For leave based on a quarantine order or self-quarantine advice, the request should include the name of the governmental entity ordering quarantine or the name of the health care professional advising self-quarantine. If the person subject to quarantine or advised to self-quarantine is not the employee, that person’s name and relation to the employee should be included.
For a leave request based on a school closing or child care provider unavailability, the statement should include the name and age of the child (or children) to be cared for, the name of the school or place of care that has closed, and a representation that no other person will be providing care for the child during the leave. If a child who needs care is 15 or older, the employee must affirm that there are special circumstances (but need not explain them) — the IRS otherwise assumes kids 15 and older can take care of themselves for the length of a workday.
According to the DOL, this is the extent of the documentation you may require.
Feel free to download the FFCRA Leave Request Form that asks employees for the information necessary based on their reason for leave.
If you would like to have FFCRA earnings codes setup for payroll/reporting purposes, please reach out to your Spectrum Employee Services Account Manager as soon as possible.
Copyright 2020 ThinkHR Corporation.
March 27, 2020
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)
The Department of Labor has made some clarifications below are important links for you to make sure you stay compliant. There are still many questions and as new guidance comes out we will make sure to pass it along. Please make sure you print the Poster linked below. If you have questions please feel free to email or call the office 877-826-8603.
Louisiana Workforce Commission (LWC) Announces Deferment
LWC announced they are allowing 1Q unemployment tax wage reports and payments to be deferred until June 30, 2020. If you wish to defer your LA SUTA payment please reach out to your Account Manager to coordinate. Please note the following:
- The tax has already been withheld over the course of the quarter.
- We will return the entire quarter after your last payroll of the quarter.
- If you choose to do this and LWC sends out any notices in reference to the 1Q 2020 filing we will charge at an hourly rate to work those notices.
We are aware that the Bill – Families First Coronavirus Act was passed today. We are prepared with the ability to create specific leave codes for this if you need. Please reach out to your account manager by email with request for these codes. This is a link to the act but below is detailed information from myHRCounsel on how the act will work regarding sick and leave time.
Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act
Effective Dates: April 2, 2020 – December 31, 2020
Covered Employers: Private employers with fewer than 500 employees and public agencies of any size (though employers with fewer than 50 employees are shielded from civil FMLA damages in an FMLA lawsuit, meaning reduced liability in terms of back pay or liquidated damages)
Eligible Employees: Employees who have been employed for at least 30 calendar days by the employer
Leave Entitlement: Up to 12 weeks
Reasons for Leave: Eligible employees may take up to 12 weeks of leave for a qualifying need related to a public health emergency. Such qualifying need is limited to circumstances in which the employee is unable to work or telework due to a need to care for a minor child if the child’s school or place of child care has been closed or is unavailable due to a public health emergency.
Financial Benefit: The first 10 days of emergency FMLA leave is unpaid unless an employee elects to utilize any accrued vacation leave, personal leave, or medical or sick leave (including emergency paid sick leave, discussed below) concurrently.
After 10 days, employees are eligible for an amount that is not less than two-thirds of their regular rate of pay based on the number of hours the employee would otherwise be normally scheduled to work.
In the case of an employee whose schedule varies from week to week to such an extent that an employer is unable to determine with certainty the number of hours the employee would have worked had the employee not taken leave, the employer should use: (1) a number equal to the average number of hours that the employee was scheduled per day over the immediately preceding 6-month period (including leave hours); or (2) if the employee did not work over the immediately preceding 6-month period, the reasonable expectation of the employee at the time of hiring of the average number of hours per day that the employee would normally be scheduled to work.
Emergency FMLA leave pay need not exceed $200 per day or $10,000 in the aggregate.
Notice: Employees with a need for leave must provide as much notice as is practicable.
Reinstatement: Employees are eligible for reinstatement pursuant to default FMLA rules. An exception applies for employers with fewer than 25 employees if certain conditions are met (such as non-existence of previously held position due to economic conditions, etc.)
Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act
Effective Dates: April 2 – December 31, 2020.
Covered Employers: Private employers with fewer than 500 employees and public agencies of any size
Eligible Employees: All current employees, regardless of days of service.
Leave Entitlement: 2 weeks of paid leave, meaning 80 hours for full-time employees. Part-time employees receive a number of hours equal to that worked on average over a 2-week period.
Reasons for Leave:
- Employee is subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19
- Employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine because of COVID-19
- Employee is caring for an individual ordered or advised to quarantine or isolate
- Employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and is seeking a medical diagnosis
- Employee is caring for a son or daughter whose school or place of care is closed, or child care provider is unavailable, due to COVID-19 precautions
- Employee is experiencing substantially similar conditions as specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor
Financial Benefit: Employees should receive their regular rate of pay for leave related to their own care, diagnosis, quarantine, or isolation. When employees use paid sick leave to care for a family member or for school or child care closures, they are entitled to two-thirds their regular rate of pay.
In the case of an employee whose schedule varies from week to week to such an extent that an employer is unable to determine with certainty the number of hours the employee would have worked had the employee not taken leave, the employer should use: (1) a number equal to the average number of hours that the employee was scheduled per day over the immediately preceding 6-month period (including leave hours); or (2) if the employee did not work over the immediately preceding 6-month period, the reasonable expectation of the employee at the time of hiring of the average number of hours per day that the employee would normally be scheduled to work.
Emergency sick leave pay may be limited to $511 per day and $5,110 in the aggregate where leave is taken for the employee’s own illness, diagnosis, quarantine, or isolation, and $200 per day and $2,000 in the aggregate for leave taken to care for others or for school or child care closures.
Carryover: Paid sick time under the new law does not carryover after December 31, 2020.
Existing Leave Policies: Paid sick leave under the new law is available to employees in addition to leave under an existing company policy. Employers may not require employees to first use accrued leave under existing company policy before using sick leave under the new law.
Exemptions: Health care providers and emergency responders may be exempted
Tax Credits
The law provides for reimbursement for employers via payroll tax credits. Refundable tax credits equal to 100% of qualified family and sick leave wages an employer pays for each calendar quarter will be available. Tax credits against income taxes are also available to self-employed individuals (at a reduced, two-thirds rate when using emergency paid sick leave to care for family members or due to school or child care closures).
***This blog article is intended for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice or opinion. Contact myHRcounsel with questions concerning specific facts and circumstances.***
We wish good health on you and your staff during this time!
March 13, 2020
How to prevent delays if employees have Physical Checks
As a company, we have been monitoring the COVID–19 situation carefully and have taken measures to ensure our team continues to be operational even as business conditions change. We have drafted plans to work remotely as Kronos is a cloud based solution and gives us the ability to service our clients with little to no interruption.
While we are prepared, we do rely on third parties, such as Fedex and the US Postal Service, to deliver physical paychecks. We cannot guarantee those services will be 100% operational across the country.
However, there are solutions to avoid this potential problem. Direct Deposit and Paycards are the two most effective methods that will continue to function during an outbreak, even if shipping services shut down.
If an employee requests to have a Direct Deposit set up or would like a Paycard please contact your Account Manager for assistance.
For tips on prevention of COVID–19 please see the CDC’s website linked below
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/covid-by-county.html
Please see additional resources below:
