Small Business Exemption from Paid Leave Under the Families First Coronavirus Act

As businesses are aware, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”) requires all employers with 500 or less employees to provide paid sick leave for COVID-19 related reasons and expands the Family and Medical Leave Act to include paid sick leave for employees if they are unable to work (or telework) due to a need for leave to care for a son or daughter under 18 years of age of such employee if the school or place of care has been closed, or if the child care provider of such son or daughter is unavailable, due to COVID-19. However, the Act carved out exemptions, notably the small business exemption for employers with 50 or less employees and provided that the Secretary of Labor would publish guidelines/regulations for eligibility for same. The Department of Labor (the “DOL”) posted these regulations on April 2, 2020, which are scheduled to be published on April 6, 2020, to interpret the Act.By Christopher Leddy, Esq. - Read full article