A few days ago, I wrote a blog discussing the proposed “Families First Coronavirus Response Act.” Well, everybody, it passed the U.S. Senate and was signed into law by the President on March 18, 2020. Everything from the original blog remains unchanged, but now that the law has been enacted, I wanted to touch on and summarize a few key points that people have been asking about:

1. Now that the law has passed, employers have until March 25, 2020 to post the required notice from the Department of Labor. As of the time this blog was published, however, it has not been posted yet. Keep checking here.

2. The 15-day timeclock has started running for the law to take effect. Look at the table below to find out what that means for you!

3. There are tax credits being made available for pay provided during this time, as well as tax credits for self-employed individuals. I am neither an accountant, nor a tax attorney, so consult with these professionals, for more details, please!!

4. Be aware of the interaction with the FMLA. The FMLA still exists and applies to qualifiying employers (50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius) and qualifying employees (individuals employed for at least 12 months who have worked at least 1250 hours during the last 12 months) who have qualifying health conditions, have adopted or had a child, or who are caring for qualifying others. As a refresher, under the FMLA, individuals can get up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the conditions of the law, or may take intermittent leave, and must be returned to work at the conclusion of the leave. This paragrpah is very generalized and does not cover every single aspect of the FMLA, which is extensive. This is a friendly reminder that the FMLA is not off the table for its usual purposes right now.

The Department of Labor has put together a great summary page, but I went ahead put together this table to compare the benefits of each of the major two parts of the act that apply to leave time. I hope you find it helpful!