Paid Leave for Covid-19 Related Reasons

The Houk Law Firm is committed to providing up-to-date information about new laws affecting employers and employees in light of the Covid-19 situation. That's why we created this short guide to Covid-19 paid leave.

Beginning April 1, 2020, employees are entitled to Covid-19-related paid leave. In general, employees are entitled to paid leave when they are affected by Covid-19. Employees may be eligible for:

• 80 hours of paid leave at 100% of their pay when:
  
  • the employee must stay home on the recommendation of a doctor,
  • a government order requires leave, or
  • an employee has Covid-19 symptoms and is seeking a diagnosis.
• 80 hours of paid leave at 100% of their pay when the employee is caring:
  • for someone who is at home on the recommendation of a doctor,
  • for someone who has Covid-19 symptoms and is seeking a diagnosis,
  • for a child whose school is closed or child care provider is unavailable because of Covid-19
• 80 hours of paid leave at 100% of their pay when:
  • a government order requires it
• 10 weeks of paid leave at 2/3 of their regular rate of pay for employees staying at home with children while schools are shuttered due to Covid-19.

Covered employers are generally employers with fewer than 500 employees. Employers with under 50 employees may qualify for an exemption if providing paid leave would cause them to go out of business. Full and part-time employees are eligible.

Employers will be reimbursed 100% for the leave through tax credits.

Please contact the Houk Law Firm for assistance in understanding recently passed laws or
proposed legislation.

For more information, please see the following:

Department of Labor Guidelines for Employees

Department of Labor Guidelines for Employers

Department of Labor Guidance (Q&A)

Internal Revenue Service Press Release – Tax Credits for Employers

The information in this post is not intended to be legal advice for a specific situation.