As you may recall, in response to the COVID-19 emergency, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was signed into law by President Trump on March 18, 2020. The provisions of the act became effective April 1, 2020 and were set to extend leave and pay benefits to certain employees due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 through December 31, 2020.
The FFCRA leave provisions were as follows:
The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act made employees eligible for the following:
- 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.
- The employee may also qualify for this leave, paid at two thirds (2/3) the normal rate, if 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 to 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.
Under the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act employees were eligible for up to 12 weeks of family and medical leave at two thirds (2/3) the employee’s regular rate of pay where an employee, who has been employed for at least 30 calendar days, 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 and telework is not an option. During the first two weeks of leave, an employee may be unpaid, use vacation or comp. time, sick leave bank, or if applicable use the two (2) weeks of pay under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act.
As provided by the law, the City opted to exclude first responders from the City's application of the FFCRA to our employees. However, a separate policy (the City of Brentwood COVID-19 Emergency Responder Leave Policy) was adopted to extend nearly identical benefits to those first responders. The primary difference is that under the City's Emergency Responder Leave Policy, approval of certain leave is subject to management review of staffing levels and a determination of need.
Although the recent COVID relief bill passed by Congress extended the payroll tax benefits of the FFCRA, it did not extend the leave provisions past their expiration of December 31, 2020. As a result, beginning on January 1, 2021, employers are no longer required to provide FFCRA leave; however, covered employers who voluntarily offer such leave may utilize payroll tax credits to cover the cost of benefits paid to employees through the end of March. The new law does not change the qualifying reasons for which employees may take leave. It also does not change the amount of leave that employees are entitled to take under the FFCRA. Under the FFCRA, full time employees are entitled to a one-time allotment of 80 hours of paid sick leave and 12 weeks of expanded family medical leave. Therefore, an employer is not entitled to a second tax credit for an employee taking leave in 2021, when that employee already took leave in 2020.
Although the tax credits are inapplicable to governmental employers, City staff recognize the benefit in voluntarily extending the leave provisions of the FFCRA and the City of Brentwood COVID-19 Emergency Responder Leave Policy. The hope is that the extension of these will allow employees to follow appropriate quarantine procedures when necessary without fear of not having enough sick leave to cover such absence.
Attached are charts showing the details of the coverage for both the FFCRA and the Emergency Responder Leave Policy. The charts have been updated to show an end date of March 31, 2021.
The Board of Commissioners also previously adopted a local option pay policy to ensure that all employees would be paid regardless of their ability to work due to City-mandated facility closures or shift modifications and/or the employees’ inability to work remotely due to the nature of their job. Although a future need for this is not foreseeable, staff recommends extending this delegation to the City Manager and Human Resources Director through March 31, 2021.
Should you have any questions, please contact the Human Resources Director, City Attorney, Assistant City Manager, or City Manager.
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