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The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act

COVID-19 Employment Update

The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act

By: Karen B. Berkery

The Senate passed the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act on 3/18/2020. The Act will provide 14 days of sick days to employees affected by coronavirus, ensure free testing to everyone, including the uninsured and expand food and unemployment monies to the states.

The Bill makes employers with less than 500 employees pay 2 weeks of such leave if they get coronavirus and employees who are forced to care for a loved one with the virus would be paid 2/3 their regular pay. Workers can also take another 10 days off work at 2/3 pay.

Employees off work due to school closures also get 2 weeks of 100% paid leave and 2/3 of their salary.

Businesses that have 50 or fewer employees would be exempt if they are likely to go out of business. Self-employed workers can claim a refundable tax credit to cover sick leave costs.

The Bill takes effect April 2, 2020.

An eligible employee means an employee who has been employed for at least 30 calendar days and applies to employers with fewer than 500 employees.

Qualifying need related to a public health emergency means an employee is unable to work (or telework) due to need to care for a son or daughter under the age of 18 if the school or place of care has been closed or the child care provider is unavailable due to a public emergency.

A public health emergency means an emergency with respect to COVID-19 declared by a Federal, State or local authority.

The first 10 days of leave can be unpaid or the employee can elect to use PTO, vacation or other available paid leave benefits.

The employer shall provide 2/3 paid leave for leave time after the 10 days. In no event shall paid leave exceed $200 per day and $10,000 in the aggregate.

The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act shall require the employer to pay sick time to an employee who is unable to work (or telework) due to a quarantine or isolation order, has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to COVID-19 concerns, the employee is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis or the employee is caring for a son or daughter if the school or daycare has closed.

The amount of paid sick time is 80 hours for full-time employees and for part-time employees a number of hours equal to the number of hours that the employee works on an average over a two-week period.

Paid sick time does not carry over from one year to the next.

An employer cannot require an employee to use other paid leave before they use paid sick time under this Act.

COVID-19 Employment Update

By: Terence P. Durkin

In Michigan, the first two presumptive cases of COVID-19 were reported on March 10, 2020 by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Michigan’s governor, Gretchen Whitmer, issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency. Shortly thereafter Governor Whitmer issued an executive order limiting all events to no more than 250 people (March 16, 2020 CDC recommended all U.S. events of 10 or more persons be cancelled or held virtually), as well as closing all K-12 buildings until April 5, 2020. A subsequent executive order effective March 16, 2020 temporarily closed down restaurants, cafes, coffee houses, taverns, bars, distilleries, brew pubs, movie theaters, clubs, indoor and outdoor performance venues, gymnasiums, fitness centers, recreation centers, indoor sports facilities, indoor exercise facilities, exercise studios, spas, and casinos.

Carry-out and delivery restaurant services would remain available. In addition, restaurants may allow 5 people inside at a time to pick up orders provided that the patrons stay 6 feet apart from each other.

These restrictions remain in place until Monday, March 30, 2020.

Governor Whitmer’s executive order does not apply to the following: office buildings, grocery stores, markets, drugstores, pharmacies, food pantries, providers of medical equipment and supplies, residential care facilities, health facilities, congregate care facilities, juvenile justice facilities, warehouse and distribution centers, and industrial and manufacturing facilities.

In order to comply with these executive orders and limit the spread of this virus, businesses should be aware of the following:

Any information included here or through our web site is presented solely for general informational purposes and is not in any way intended as legal advice, is not a substitute for getting actual legal advice from an attorney, and should not be acted upon as legal advice without first seeking qualified professional counsel specific to your needs and situation. Additionally, by providing this general information and the information on our web site, no attorney client relationship is created.

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