Legal updates

December 23, 2020

On December 21, 2020, Congress passed a stimulus bill that included amendments to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The bill is more than 5,000 pages of text, which was published just a few hours before passage. News outlets have published conflicting versions of what is and is not contained in the stimulus bill as it pertains to the FFCRA. The bill has not yet been signed by President Trump.

Our analysis of the text of the bill reveals that while Congress made changes to the FFCRA, they did not extend the mandatory leave portion of the Act. Therefore, as of January 1, 2021, employers will no longer be required to provide the mandatory emergency paid sick leave or emergency paid FMLA leave under the FFCRA.

Nevertheless, Congress did extend the tax credits offered to certain eligible employers who voluntarily provide FFCRA leave until March 31, 2021. Those credits are provided to many private sector employers who offer emergency paid sick leave or emergency paid FMLA leave. However, Congress did not add public employers to the list of employers who could receive those credits. Please check with your tax advisor regarding your eligibility for tax credits. Furthermore, for those employers that choose to voluntarily provide FFCRA leave after January 1, 2021, Congress did not increase the amount of leave available beyond the current caps of 80 hours for Emergency Paid Sick Leave, and 12 weeks of Expanded FMLA coverage (which counts towards the cap of 12 weeks of regular FMLA coverage in a year).

We will continue to monitor any legislative changes concerning the FFCRA and keep you informed of any significant developments. If you have questions, please contact any of the attorneys at Clark Baird Smith LLP.

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This CBS LLP Client Alert is prepared for general information purposes only. Summaries of recent court opinions and other legal developments are not necessarily inclusive of all the recent legal authority of which you should be aware when making your legal decisions. Thus, while every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, you should not act on the information contained herein without seeking more specific legal advice on the application and interpretation of these developments to any particular situation.

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