On March 18, 2020, President Donald J. Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Act (the “Families First Act”) into law. For the first time, the federal government has imposed paid leave requirements on private employers. The Families First Act has two key provisions: a new federal paid sick time law and an expansion of the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). Notably the Families First Act applies to all employers with less than 500 employees.

The Families First Act provides the following benefits to employees impacted by the coronavirus:

• It gives employees 80 hours of paid sick leave if they are ill, quarantined or seeking diagnosis or medical care for the coronavirus.
  
  
• It provides employees with 80 hours of paid sick leave if the employee is caring for family members sick with the coronavirus.
  
  
• It provides employees with 80 hours of paid sick leave if the employee is caring for a child at home because the child’s school or childcare center is closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
  
  
• It expands the FMLA to allow employees to take 12 weeks of paid leave if the employees cannot telework and are caring for children whose schools or childcare centers are closed because of the coronavirus.

The Key Provisions Are:

• Employees are entitled to 80 hours of paid sick time at their regular rate of pay. However, if the employee elects to take paid sick leave to care for a family member or care for their child because of a closed school or childcare facility, then the Families First Act provides that the employee is entitled to 80 hours of pay at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay.
  
  
• The law caps the amount owed to employees who take paid sick time to $511/day and $5,110/total. For employees who elect paid sick time to care for a family member or child at home because of closed schools or childcare centers, employees are only entitled to be paid a maximum amount of $200/day and $2,000/total.
  
  
• Employers may not require that their employees use other paid leave provided to their employees before the employees use the newly provided paid sick time. Employees will still be able to use any paid time off that the employer provides to them or to which they are eligible under the Rhode Island Sick and Safe Leave Act.
  
  
• Part-time employees are eligible for the new paid sick time and are entitled to be paid based on the average hours worked per week for the six months prior to taking the paid sick leave.
  
  
• All employees are entitled to take this paid sick time for a qualifying reason regardless of length of service with the employer.

Emergency FMLA

For the emergency FMLA leave, employees may take 12 weeks of job-protected leave if they (1) worked for the employer for 30 days prior to the need for the leave and (2) take the leave because they are unable to telework and are at home caring for a child under the age of 18 years old whose school or a childcare center closed because of the coronavirus. During the first 10 days of the emergency FMLA leave, the employer may deem the leave to be unpaid and the employee can use any accrued vacation or paid time off to be paid during the ten-day period. After the ten-day period, employees are entitled to be paid at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay for the remainder of the leave. The Families First Act caps this amount at $200/day and a total of $10,000 for the length of the leave.

Part-time employees are eligible for emergency FMLA and are entitled to be paid based on the average hours worked per week for the six months prior to taking the leave. Employees are also entitled to job restoration at the end of their leave if the employer has 25 or more employees. In this instance, the employee would be entitled to be returned to the same or an equivalent position. Employers are not required to restore an employee to their position if they have fewer than 25 employees.

Effective Date and Notice Obligations

Employers must begin to comply with the above provisions by April 2, 2020. The above provisions are temporary and expire on December 31, 2020. The Department of Labor will issue regulations that will help explain the mandates of the law. The Department of Labor will also issue model notices to employers by March 25, 2020, which employers must place in a “conspicuous” place at the employer’s place of work.

Pannone Lopes Devereaux & O’Gara LLC employment lawyers are available to discuss the Families First Act and help with your organization’s compliance. Please contact PLDO Principal William E. O’Gara and Partner Matthew C. Reeber at 401-824-5100 or email wogara@pldolaw.com or mreeber@pldolaw.com.

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