The Department of Labor's Guidance on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Today the Department of Labor issued guidance on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. (In case you missed it, you can find an overview of the requirements in the Act here.) The two main takeaways from today’s announcements are:

1)    The new rules announced in the Act take effect April 1, 2020, not April 2; and

2)    The model notices containing the information employers must provide to their employees are now available.

Effective April 1, 2020

The Families First Coronavirus Relief Act, which was passed on March 18, 2020, announced temporary rules entitling employees to COVID-19-related leave. The Act stated that the new rules would go into effect 15 days after enactment and gave the Department of Labor 7 days to issue guidance and create a model notice containing the information that the Act requires employers to post to their employees.

That 7-day period expired today. So if 7 days after March 18 is today (March 25), then 15 days after March 18 should be April 2. However, the Department of Labor’s guidance states that the Act is effective April 1, 2020. While it possible that the date was calculated incorrectly, all employers should consider the effective date to be April 1, 2020.

So if you, like many of us, have been planning on waiting to implement your COVID-19 leave policies on April 2, 2020, you should adjust accordingly.

Notice to Employees

The Department of Labor also released the model notices that contains the information employers are required to post for their employees. The Department has provided two different model notices—one for employers generally and one for federal employers. All Department of Labor posters can be found by following this link: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/posters

Note that the Act requires an employer to post the notice in a “conspicuous place on its premises.” Even though many employers have allowed employees to work remotely, the Act has not indicated that employers need to take any special efforts in posting the notice. So posting the notice on your premises is sufficient to satisfy the requirement in the Act. Of course, nothing in the Act prohibits employers from forwarding the notice on to employees working remotely if they so choose.

Further Reading and Forthcoming Regulations

If you would like to read the Department of Labor’s guidance, it was provided in three different documents: a Fact Sheet for Employees, a Fact Sheet for Employers and a Questions and Answers document. The Department of Labor also indicated that it expects to release regulations that will further clarify the rules under the Act, such as how employers with fewer than 50 employees may receive exemptions from the requirements of the Act.

- By Taylor Cutler