For employers with fewer than 500 employees, the Act provides paid sick leave for Coronavirus (COVID-19)-related absences that are not covered under existing employer-provided paid sick leave programs.

Leave Reasons

The employer must provide employees with employer-paid sick time to the extent that employees are unable to work or telework due to a need for leave because:

• the employee is subject to a federal, state or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19;
• the employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19;
• the employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and is seeking a medical diagnosis;
• the employee is caring for an individual who is subject to an isolation or quarantine or has been advised to self- quarantine;
• the employee is caring for a son or daughter due to closure of school or place of care, or the childcare provider is unavailable;
• or the employee is experiencing any other similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor.

Duration

The duration of benefits for full-time employees is 80 hours, and for part-time employees, it is the average number of hours worked over a regular two-week period. Paid leave under this provision would not carryover.

Benefit Amount

The amount of sick pay is subject to the following caps:

• $511 per day and $5,110 in the aggregate for an employee’s own quarantine or isolation order, the employee’s self-quarantine under advice of health care provider, or the employee is symptomatic and seeking medical diagnosis, and
• $200 per day and $2,000 in the aggregate for caring for an individual who is subject to a federal, state or local quarantine or isolation order; caring for a son or daughter of employee if school or place of care is closed or childcare provider is unavailable due to COVID-19 precautions; or employee is experiencing a similar condition specified by Secretary of HHS in consult with Secretary of Treasury and Secretary of Labor.

Notice Requirement

Employers will be required to post notice of the availability of paid sick leave in the workplace. The Department of Labor (DOL) will provide guidance on the contents of the notice within seven days from enactment.

Non-Retaliation Provisions

The new law includes provisions that make it unlawful for any employer to discharge, discipline, or discriminate against any employee for taking leave under the Act.

Exemption

The bill contains provisions that allow the DOL to exempt businesses with fewer than 50 employees if the imposition of leave requirements would jeopardize business viability.

Exclusion from coverage

The legislation also grants the DOL power to exclude health care providers and emergency responders from the definition of Eligible Employee.

Employer tax credits

The legislation provides a refundable payroll tax credit to employers to cover 100 percent of the cost of wages.

This is a summary of the provisions in the legislation enacted on Wednesday, March 18. We understand that this new law raises many questions about administration of these benefit plans. We are working quickly to operationalize these changes and will be providing regular updates to our customers and business partners.