Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)
NOTE - FFCRA Leave Requirements extended the credit available to employers until Mar. 31, 2021.
The requirement that employers provide paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) expired on Dec. 31, 2020. Please visit the Wage and Hour Division’s FFCRA Questions and Answers page to learn more about workers’ and employers’ rights and responsibilities after this date.
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201) answers the growing need for paid family and medical leave by providing the maximum amount of flexibility to the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor to be responsive to the needs of those small businesses that are suffering. FFCRA is in effect through the end of 2020.
Who it impacts: The expanded family and medical leave provisions of the law apply to certain public employers, and private 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.
- Fact sheet for employees: employee paid leave rights.
- Fact sheet for employers: employer expanded family and medical leave requirements.
- Questions and answers: Family First Coronavirus Response Act.
What it provides: The FFCRA provides that employees of covered employers are eligible for the below.
- Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of expanded family and medical leave at the employee’s regular rate of pay where the employee is unable to work because the employee is quarantined (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of a health care provider), and/or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis; or
- Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of expanded family and medical leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay 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 to 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
- Up to an additional 10 weeks of 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 due to a bona fide need for leave to care for a child whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19.
- Other provisions of FFCRA in further detail can be found on this chart.