The “Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act” or EFMLEA was just passed and goes into effect on April 2, 2020. This law covers all employers with fewer than 500 employees, and eligible employees must have worked for the employer for at least 30 days.
An employee is eligible for EFMLEA leave if the employee is unable to work or telework due to the need to care for the employee’s son or daughter under the age of 18 or when the child’s school or day care is closed due to the coronavirus. An eligible employee is entitled to up to 12 weeks of leave, which is paid at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate after an initial 10 day unpaid period (unless the employee has PTO or other paid leave that the employee elects to use during the 10-day period), with a maximum of $10,000 in paid leave and up to $200 per day over the course of the 12 weeks. If the maximum dollar amount is reached, the balance of the leave is unpaid.
This emergency measure provides valuable benefits not previously available under the FMLA to many employees. We will post shortly about another new law just passed — the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act. The experienced labor and employment lawyers at Minnillo & Jenkins, and Robb Stokar, are here to help. This emergency law was just enacted and the Department of Labor has authority to issue regulations, so stay tuned for more details.
