DOL Provides Further Guidance on FFCRA’s Emergency Paid Sick Leave and Emergency Family Medical Leave and Publishes Required Poster

Key Takeaways:

• The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) continues to expand its Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) FAQ—which, as of March 29, 2020, addresses 59 commonly raised questions

• The DOL has posted a FFCRA notice that the agency says will fulfill employers’ notice requirements under the emergency leave law passed in response to the new coronavirus pandemic

• The DOL is requiring covered employers to post a notice of FFCRA requirements in a conspicuous place on their premises or issue it to employees electronically

DOL Continues to Issue Guidance on FFCRA

On March 19, 2020, Goldberg Segalla’s Employment and Labor team issued an alert summarizing the basic requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) while noting that many questions about how the Act would be interpreted and implemented were unanswered. On March 25, 2020, Goldberg Segalla’s Employment & Labor team issued an alert advising that the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) Wage and Hour Division provided its first published guidance to employees and employers about how each will be able to take advantage of the protections and relief offered by the FFCRA when it takes effect on April 1, 2020.

Since our last alert, the DOL has continued to issue further guidance, expanding its 14 question FAQ to a 59 question FAQ, while answering many additional questions are being raised by employers. The DOL’s full FAQ can be accessed here: Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Questions and Answers.

DOL Publishes Required FFCRA Poster

The DOL has also issued its workplace poster for the FFCRA, which can be found here. All employers with fewer than 500 employees who are covered by the new law are required to post notice. The DOL’s poster FAQ page explains how the poster must be posted.

Notably:

• Employers must put the poster “in a conspicuous place” on their premises
• Consistent with other federal posting requirements, if employees don’t come to one central place, employers need to post it in multiple places
• Recognizing that many workers are not currently visiting the workplace, the DOL’s FAQs advise that employers may satisfy this posting requirement by “emailing or direct mailing” the notice to employees or posting this notice on an employee information internal or external website
• Employers do not yet have to post the notice in multiple languages
• The DOL is working on translating the poster into languages other than English (to date, the DOL has only published a Spanish translation)

The DOL has revised this notice on two occasions since it was originally posted. Check the DOL’s website to download the most recent notice and to ensure that you remain current with all notice requirements.

Goldberg Segalla’s Employment and Labor team will continue monitoring this situation and report on significant developments and further guidance issued from the DOL or other authorities.

For more information or further guidance, contact:

• Caroline J. Berdzik
• Peter J. Woo
• Kristin Klein Wheaton
• Matthew Golper
• Or another member of our Employment and Labor practice