1.5.2021
The Federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) required employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide sick and family leave benefits for certain COVID-19 related reasons through December 31, 2020. Many anticipated that the FFCRA’s sick and family leave provisions would be extended into 2021 as part of the pandemic relief package that was signed by the President on December 27. However, these provisions were ultimately not extended and employers are no longer required to provide paid leave under the FFCRA after December 31, 2020.
FFCRA Employer Tax Credits Available Through March 31, 2021
Although employers are no longer required to provide employees with FFCRA leave, the December 27 pandemic relief package extends the FFCRA tax credit through March 31, 2021. This credit reimburses private employers for their costs of providing FFCRA leave and employers who voluntarily decide to offer leave may utilize payroll tax credits to cover the cost of benefits paid to employees through the end of March 2021.
Notably, the relief package does not change the qualifying reasons for which employees may take leave, the caps on the amount of pay employees are entitled to receive, or the FFCRA’s documentation requirements. It also does not affect 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, if that employee already took leave in 2020. However, if an employer uses the “calendar year” under its FMLA policy, the employer may be eligible to claim a tax credit for the second use of expanded FMLA benefits paid to the same employee in 2021.
Although providing FFCRA leave is now voluntary, employers should be mindful to navigate state and local COVID-19 leave laws that remain in effect, which may—or may not—expire at the conclusion of 2021. For example, New York State’s quarantine leave law, which requires that New York employers provide job-protected sick leave to employees who are subject to a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation, does not expire at the end of the year.
If you are an employer with a question about this legal blog alert or another employee leave policy question, contact Tracy Armstrong or another member of the Wilentz Employment Law team.
Tags: Coronavirus (COVID-19) • Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFRCA) • Employment Law Update
The postings on this blog were created for general informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice or a solicitation to provide legal services. Although we attempt to ensure that the postings are complete, accurate, and current as of the time of publication, we assume no responsibility for their completeness, accuracy, or timeliness. The information in this blog is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, a lawyer-client relationship. Readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional legal counsel.
This blog may contain links to independent third party websites and services, including social media. We provide these links for your convenience, and you access them at your own risk. We have no control over and do not monitor the content or policies (including privacy policies) of these third-party websites and have no responsibility for, and no liability with respect to, their content, accuracy, or reliability. Unless expressly stated, we do not endorse any of the linked websites or any product, service, or publication referenced herein or therein. We will remove a link to any site from this blog upon request of the linked entity.
We grant permission to readers to link to this blog so long as this blog is not misrepresented. This site is not sponsored or associated with any other site unless so identified.
If you wish for Wilentz, Goldman & Spitzer, P.A., to consider representing you, please obtain contact information from the Contact Us area of this blog or go to the firm’s website at www.wilentz.com. One of our lawyers will be happy to discuss the possibility of representation with you. However, the authors of Wilentz blogs are licensed only in New Jersey and/or New York and do not wish to represent anyone who viewed this site in a state where the site fails to comply with all laws and ethical rules of that state.
