New York State – Emergency Paid Sick Leave
Effective March 18, 2020 through December 31, 2020 unless extended
In response to the outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in New York State, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has guaranteed workers job protection and financial compensation in the event they, or their minor dependent child (under the age of 18 years old), are subject to an order of mandatory or precautionary quarantine or isolation issued by the state of New York, the Department of Health, local board of health, or any government entity duly authorized to issue such order due to COVID-19.
Important: This benefit is NOT available to employees who are able to work through remote access or other means.
The leave available to employees if they are subject to a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation depends on the size of your business as of January 1, 2020, and/or whether you are a private or public employer.
Small businesses with 10 or fewer employees as of January 1, 2020, and that had a net annual income less than $1 million last year must provide your employees with:
- Job protection for the duration of the order of quarantine or isolation
Your employees can access benefits through your Paid Family Leave and disability benefits policy, for the duration of the order of quarantine or isolation.
Medium businesses with 11-99 employees as of January 1, 2020, and smaller employers (1-10 employees) that had a net annual income greater than $1 million last year must provide your employees with:
- Job protection for the duration of the order of quarantine or isolation
- At least 5 days of paid sick leave
Your employees can then access benefits through your Paid Family Leave and disability benefits policy.
Large businesses with 100 or more employees as of January 1, 2020, must provide your employees with:
- Job protection for the duration of the order of quarantine or isolation
- At least 14 days of paid sick leave
Public employers (no matter how many employees) must provide your employees with:
- Job protection for the duration of the order of quarantine or isolation
- At least 14 days of paid sick leave
The employee and Human Resources will work together to submit the appropriate forms to our insurance carrier, The Standard within 30 days of their first day of leave. The insurance carrier must pay or deny the employee’s request within 18 calendar days of receiving the completed request.
The Company is responsible for ensuring important employee protections.
- Job protection: You must reinstate the employee to the same or a comparable position, upon returning from leave.
- No discrimination: You cannot discriminate or retaliate against an employee for requesting or taking Paid Family Leave.
- Continued health insurance: You must continue to provide health insurance on the same terms as if the employee had continued to work while they are on Paid Family Leave. If employees regularly contribute to the cost of their health insurance, they must continue to pay their portion of the cost while on leave.
Federal – Families First Coronavirus Response Act
Effective April 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020 unless extended
On March 18, Congress passed, and President Trump signed into law, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The FFCRA is a bipartisan effort to help employers and individuals alike in managing pay, benefits, and business considerations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus of this alert is the impact of FFCRA on employer-sponsored benefits and paid leave. The paid leave provisions of the Act apply to employers with less than 500 employees.
Generally, the Act provides that covered employers must provide to all employees:
- Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick 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 paid sick 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 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/or the employee is experiencing a substantially similar condition as specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of the Treasury and Labor.
Important: This benefit is NOT available to employees who are able to work through remote access or other means.
A covered employer must provide to employees that it has employed for at least 30 days:
- Up to an additional 10 weeks of paid expanded family and medical leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay where an employee 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.
Important: This benefit is NOT available to employees who are able to work through remote access or other means.
Covered Employers
The paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave provisions of the FFCRA apply to certain public employers, and private employers with fewer than 500 employees.[4] Most employees of the federal government are covered by Title II of the Family and Medical Leave Act, which was not amended by this Act, and are therefore not covered by the expanded family and medical leave provisions of the FFCRA. However, federal employees covered by Title II of the Family and Medical Leave Act are covered by the paid sick leave provision.
Qualifying Reasons for Leave
Under the FFCRA, an employee qualifies for paid sick time if the employee is unable to work (or unable to telework) due to a need for leave because the employee:
1. is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19;
2. has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine related to COVID-19;
3. is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis;
4. is caring for an individual subject to an order described in (1) or self-quarantine as described in (2);
5. is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed (or childcare provider is unavailable) for reasons related to COVID-19; or
6. is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of Labor and Treasury.
Under the FFCRA, an employee qualifies for expanded family leave if the employee is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed (or childcare provider is unavailable) for reasons related to COVID-19.
Worksite Closing Forecloses Leave Availability
Per the DOL, if the worksite closes, employees do not receive, or continue to receive, FFCRA leave. It does not matter whether: 1) the closure occurs before or after the law takes effect; 2) an employee is on leave when closure occurs; 3) an employer furloughs an employee; 4) the worksite temporarily closes and the employer says it will reopen in the future. This is true whether the worksite closes for lack of business or per a federal, state, or local directive. If this occurs, an employee's only recourse is to seek unemployment benefits.
Shelter-in-Place and Business Closure Orders Do Not Likely Support the Need for EPSL
Although it did not carve out a specific question for these types of orders, the DOL appears ready to deny EPSL to those covered by these sweeping orders.
If, prior to the FFCRA’s effective date, your employer sent you home and stops paying you because it does not have work for you to do, you will not get paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave but you may be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits. This is true whether your employer closes your worksite for lack of business or because it is required to close pursuant to a Federal, State, or local directive.
If your employer reduces your work hours because it does not have work for you to perform, you may not use paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for the hours that you are no longer scheduled to work.
This language seems to indicate that EPSL is not available to those covered by shelter-in-place and business closure orders at the state and local level (though employees whose child’s school or childcare is unavailable would still be eligible for FMLA+ for that reason alone).
Duration of Leave
For reasons (1)-(4) and (6): A full-time employee is eligible for up to 80 hours of leave, and a part-time employee is eligible for the number of hours of leave that the employee works on average over a two-week period.
For reason (5): A full-time employee is eligible for up to 12 weeks of leave at 40 hours a week, and a part-time employee is eligible for leave for the number of hours that the employee is normally scheduled to work over that period.
Intermittent and Incremental Use at Employer's Discretion
The DOL provides generally that employees and employers may agree to intermittent and incremental use of emergency paid sick leave (EPSL) and emergency paid Family and Medical Leave benefits (FMLA+), but then seems to divide the remaining guidance into two situations—whether the employee is teleworking or working onsite.
For employees who are teleworking, whether taking time off under EPSL or FMLA+, employer and employee may agree to intermittent leave for any of the covered reasons. But for employees who are working on the employer’s premises, intermittent EPSL is only permitted for employees who are taking leave for school closures or childcare unavailability (again, only if the employer agrees). Employees taking EPSL for one of the other five reasons under the Act must take such leave in full-day increments (because the intent of the FFCRA is to prevent employees who may be ill or caring for those who are ill from possibly spreading the virus to other individuals in the workplace).
Employees Can Use Leave for Scheduled Hours Only
The DOL clarifies leave is available only for an employee's scheduled hours. If an employer reduces an employee's hours, the employee can use leave for remaining scheduled hours only.
Calculation of Pay
For leave reasons (1), (2), or (3): employees taking leave shall be paid at either their regular rate or the applicable minimum wage, whichever is higher, up to $511 per day and $5,110 in the aggregate (over a 2-week period).
For leave reasons (4) or (6): employees taking leave shall be paid at 2/3 their regular rate or 2/3 the applicable minimum wage, whichever is higher, up to $200 per day and $2,000 in the aggregate (over a 2-week period).
For leave reason (5): employees taking leave shall be paid at 2/3 their regular rate or 2/3 the applicable minimum wage, whichever is higher, up to $200 per day and $12,000 in the aggregate (over a 12-week period—two weeks of paid sick leave followed by up to 10 weeks of paid expanded family and medical leave).
Employees Cannot Use Existing Benefits During FFCRA Leave without Employer Consent and Employers Cannot Require Employees to Use Existing Benefits
According to the DOL, employers and employees must agree in order to use FFCRA paid leave and existing employer-provided leave benefits simultaneously and use the latter to "top up" the deficit that may result when FFCRA leave pays out at two-thirds an employee's regular rate (and that employers cannot require this without the employee’s consent). While this supplementation may be allowed if employees and employers agree, the DOL reminds employers that the law limits the employer tax credit to the amount of FFCRA leave an employer must provide, so tax relief is unavailable for the "top up."
Health Coverage Continues During Leave
Per the DOL, existing FMLA standards apply to emergency family leave: employees can continue group health coverage on the same terms; if an employee has family coverage, an employer must maintain such coverage, and employees must generally continue to make regular contributions for their own portion of premiums. For paid sick leave, the DOL says that, per the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), employers cannot establish an eligibility rule or set an individual's premium or contribution rate based on whether the employee is actively at work, "unless absence from work due to any health factor (such as being absent from work on sick leave) is treated, for purposes of the plan or health insurance coverage, as being actively at work."
Requesting Documentation
The DOL explains that employees must support leave requests with appropriate information, including the employee’s name, qualifying reason for leave, a statement that the employee is unable to work or telework for that reason, and leave date(s).
Employees must provide documentation supporting the absence, e.g., a copy of the quarantine or isolation order, or written documentation from a health care provider advising self-quarantine. For employees using leave to care for a child, examples of supporting documentation include a notice posted on a government, school, or day care website, or published in a newspaper, or an email from an employee or official of the school, place of care, or childcare provider.
The DOL recommends that employers keep this documentation if they will seek tax credits for providing paid leave. The DOL points employers to consult Internal Revenue Service (IRS) applicable forms, instructions, and information for the process they will need to follow to claim this tax credit, including any necessary supporting documentation.
Tax Credits
Paid Sick Leave Credit
For an employee who is unable to work because of Coronavirus quarantine or self-quarantine or has Coronavirus symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis, eligible employers may receive a refundable sick leave credit for sick leave at the employee’s regular rate of pay, up to $511 per day and $5,110 in the aggregate, for a total of 10 days.
For an employee who is caring for someone with Coronavirus, or is caring for a child because the child’s school or child care facility is closed, or the child care provider is unavailable due to the Coronavirus, eligible employers may claim a credit for two-thirds of the employee’s regular rate of pay, up to $200 per day and $2,000 in the aggregate, for up to 10 days. Eligible employers are entitled to an additional tax credit determined based on costs to maintain health insurance coverage for the eligible employee during the leave period.
Child Care Leave Credit
In addition to the sick leave credit, for an employee who is unable to work because of a need to care for a child whose school or child-care facility is closed or whose childcare provider is unavailable due to the Coronavirus, eligible employers may receive a refundable childcare leave credit. This credit is equal to two-thirds of the employee’s regular pay, capped at $200 per day or $10,000 in the aggregate. Up to 10 weeks of qualifying leave can be counted towards the child-care leave credit. Eligible employers are entitled to an additional tax credit, which is determined by costs to maintain health insurance coverage for the eligible employee during the leave period
Tax Credit Examples
If an eligible employer paid $5,000 in sick leave and is otherwise required to deposit $8,000 in payroll taxes, including taxes withheld from all its employees, the employer could use up to $5,000 of the $8,000 of taxes it was going to deposit for making qualified leave payments. The employer would only be required under the law to deposit the remaining $3,000 on its next regular deposit date.
If an eligible employer paid $10,000 in sick leave and was required to deposit $8,000 in taxes, the employer could use the entire $8,000 of taxes in order to make qualified leave payments and file a request for an accelerated credit for the remaining $2,000.
Equivalent childcare leave and sick leave credit amounts are available to self-employed individuals under similar circumstances. These credits will be claimed on their income tax return and will reduce estimated tax payments.
Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Questions and Answers
As provided under the legislation, the U.S. Department of Labor will be issuing implementing regulations. Additionally, as warranted, the Department will continue to provide compliance assistance to employers and employees on their responsibilities and rights under the FFCRA.
1. What is the effective date of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which includes the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act?
The FFCRA’s paid leave provisions are effective on April 1, 2020, and apply to leave taken between April 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020.
2. How do I count hours worked by a part-time employee for purposes of paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave?
A part-time employee is entitled to leave for his or her average number of work hours in a two-week period. Therefore, you calculate hours of leave based on the number of hours the employee is normally scheduled to work. If the normal hours scheduled are unknown, or if the part-time employee’s schedule varies, you may use a six-month average to calculate the average daily hours. Such a part-time employee may take paid sick leave for this number of hours per day for up to a two-week period and may take expanded family and medical leave for the same number of hours per day up to ten weeks after that.
If this calculation cannot be made because the employee has not been employed for at least six months, use the number of hours that you and your employee agreed that the employee would work upon hiring. And if there is no such agreement, you may calculate the appropriate number of hours of leave based on the average hours per day the employee was scheduled to work over the entire term of his or her employment.
3. When calculating pay due to employees, must overtime hours be included?
Yes. The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act requires you to pay an employee for hours the employee would have been normally scheduled to work even if that is more than 40 hours in a week.
However, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act requires that paid sick leave be paid only up to 80 hours over a two-week period. For example, an employee who is scheduled to work 50 hours a week may take 50 hours of paid sick leave in the first week and 30 hours of paid sick leave in the second week. In any event, the total number of hours paid under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act is capped at 80.
If the employee’s schedule varies from week to week, please see the answer to Question 2, because the calculation of hours for a full-time employee with a varying schedule is the same as that for a part-time employee.
Please keep in mind the daily and aggregate caps placed on any pay for paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave as described in the answer to Question 4.
Please note that pay does not need to include a premium for overtime hours under either the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act or the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act.
4. As an employee, how much will I be paid while taking paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave under the FFCRA?
It depends on your normal schedule as well as why you are taking leave.
If you are taking paid sick leave because you are unable to work or telework due to a need for leave because you (1) are subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19; (2) have been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19; or (3) are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and are seeking medical diagnosis, you will receive for each applicable hour the greater of:
a. your regular rate of pay,
b. the federal minimum wage in effect under the FLSA, or
c. the applicable State or local minimum wage.
In these circumstances, you are entitled to a maximum of $511 per day, or $5,110 total over the entire paid sick leave period.
If you are taking paid sick leave because you are: (1) caring for an individual who is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19 or an individual who has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19; (2) caring for your child whose school or place of care is closed, or child care provider is unavailable, due to COVID-19 related reasons; or (3) experiencing any other substantially-similar condition that may arise, as specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, you are entitled to compensation at 2/3 of the greater of the amounts above.
Under these circumstances, you are subject to a maximum of $200 per day, or $2,000 over the entire two-week period.
If you are taking expanded family and medical leave, you may take paid sick leave for the first ten days of that leave period, or you may substitute any accrued vacation leave, personal leave, or medical or sick leave you have under your employer’s policy. For the following ten weeks, you will be paid for your leave at an amount no less than 2/3 of your regular rate of pay for the hours you would be normally scheduled to work. The regular rate of pay used to calculate this amount must be at or above the federal minimum wage, or the applicable state or local minimum wage. However, you will not receive more than $200 per day or $12,000 for the twelve weeks that include both paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave when you are on leave to care for your child whose school or place of care is closed, or child care provider is unavailable, due to COVID-19 related reasons.
To calculate the number of hours for which you are entitled to paid leave, please see the answers to Questions 2-3 that are provided in this guidance.
5. What is my regular rate of pay for purposes of the FFCRA?
For purposes of the FFCRA, the regular rate of pay used to calculate your paid leave is the average of your regular rate over a period of up to six months prior to the date on which you take leave.[2] If you have not worked for your current employer for six months, the regular rate used to calculate your paid leave is the average of your regular rate of pay for each week you have worked for your current employer.
If you are paid with commissions, tips, or piece rates, these wages will be incorporated into the above calculation.
You can also compute this amount for each employee by adding all compensation that is part of the regular rate over the above period and divide that sum by all hours actually worked in the same period.
6. May I take 80 hours of paid sick leave for my self-quarantine and then another amount of paid sick leave for another reason provided under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act?
No. You may take up to two weeks—or ten days—(80 hours for a full-time employee, or for a part-time employee, the number of hours equal to the average number of hours that the employee works over a typical two-week period) of paid sick leave for any combination of qualifying reasons. However, the total number of hours for which you receive paid sick leave is capped at 80 hours under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act.
7. If I am home with my child because his or her school or place of care is closed, or childcare provider is unavailable, do I get paid sick leave, expanded family and medical leave, or both—how do they interact?
You may be eligible for both types of leave, but only for a total of twelve weeks of paid leave. You may take both paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave to care for your child whose school or place of care is closed, or childcare provider is unavailable, due to COVID-19 related reasons. The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act provides for an initial two weeks of paid leave. This period thus covers the first ten workdays of expanded family and medical leave, which are otherwise unpaid under the Emergency and Family Medical Leave Expansion Act unless you elect to use existing vacation, personal, medical or sick leave under your employer’s policy. After the first ten workdays have elapsed, you will receive 2/3 of your regular rate of pay for the hours you would have been scheduled to work in the subsequent ten weeks under the Emergency and Family Medical Leave Expansion Act.
Please note that you can only receive the additional ten weeks of expanded family and medical leave under the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act for leave to care for your child whose school or place of care is closed, or child care provider is unavailable, due to COVID-19 related reasons.
8. What does it mean to be "Unable" to Work or Telework?
The DOL explains that being “unable” to work or telework means that an employer has work available, but one of the specified paid reasons for leave under the FFCRA prevents the employee from being able to do so. If an employer offers the ability to work the same number of hours per day but different hours, the employee is able to work and leave is unnecessary unless: 1) the reason for leave prevents the employee from working that schedule; 2) the employee has a qualifying paid sick leave absence; or 3) the employee cannot telework due to the need to care for a child. Note, however, that if an employee can telework while caring for the child, leave is unavailable.
9. Can my employer deny me paid sick leave if my employer gave me paid leave for a reason identified in the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act prior to the Act going into effect?
No. The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act imposes a new leave requirement on employers that is effective beginning on April 1, 2020.
10. Is all leave under the FMLA now paid leave?
No. The only type of family and medical leave that is paid leave is expanded family and medical leave under the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act when such leave exceeds ten days. This includes leave taken only because the employee must care for a child whose school or place of care is closed, or childcare provider is unavailable, due to COVID-19 related reasons.
11. Are the paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave requirements retroactive?
No.
12. How do I know whether I have “been employed for at least 30 calendar days by the employer” for purposes of expanded family and medical leave?
You are considered to have been employed by your employer for at least 30 calendar days if your employer had you on its payroll for the 30 calendar days immediately prior to the day your leave would begin. For example, if you want to take leave on April 1, 2020, you would need to have been on your employer’s payroll as of March 2, 2020.
If you have been working for a company as a temporary employee, and the company subsequently hires you on a full-time basis, you may count any days you previously worked as a temporary employee toward this 30-day eligibility period.
Additional Resources
New York State Paid Sick Leave: https://paidfamilyleave.ny.gov/covid19
U.S. Department of Labor: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic
Department of Treasury: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-and-labor-announce-plan-to-implement-coronavirus-related-paid-leave-for-workers-and-tax-credits-for-small-and-midsize-businesses-to-swiftly-recover-the-cost-of-providing-coronavirus
