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Information on The Families First Coronavirus Response Act

Released – March 31, 2020:  Santora CPA Group is here to help you sort through the recently enacted Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) that takes effect on April 1st. The FFCRA applies to all private employers and nonprofit organizations with fewer than 500 employees. The FFCRA will provide employees with paid leave, either for the employee’s own health needs or to care for family members. The legislation will ensure that workers are not forced to choose between their paychecks and the public health measures needed to combat the virus while at the same time reimbursing businesses.

What you need to do right now to comply with the FFCRA…

  • Download the Department of Labor’s mandatory FFCRA Employee Rights poster and provide to all your employees before April 1st. We recommend distributing this notice by email to all employees working remotely along with posting it where you have your other labor posters (click here for the poster).
  • Review the FFCRA Employer Paid Leave Requirements for how much leave employers must provide and the qualifying reasons for the leave.  Download SCG’s user-friendly FFCRA Chart to help you navigate through the requirements or visit  https://dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employer-paid-leave.
  • Review the FFCRA’s Frequently Asked Questions for clarification of the requirements (click here for the FAQs).
  • For information on how employers will be reimbursed for any FFCRA leave paid to employees, download SCG’s FFCRA Paid Leave Tax Credits.
  • You should establish separate leave payroll codes for FFCRA-covered hours to assist in tracking the time taken for FFCRA leave benefits. We recommend you set up three new wage codes in your time reporting and payroll systems where employees can post any time they take under the FFCRA qualifying reasons:
    – EPSL – Emergency Paid Sick Leave – 100% paid – up to 2 weeks
    – EPCL – Emergency Paid Caregiver Leave – 2/3’s of pay – up to 2 weeks
    – EPFML – Emergency Paid Family and Medical Leave – 2/3’s of pay up to 10 weeks
  • Check with your payroll person to make sure they understand the FFCRA’s reporting requirements and payroll tax credit reporting.  If they do not, let us know so we can include them in one of our FFCRA Zoom Meetings (email Erin at Emelhus@santoracpagroup.com and she’ll send them a meeting invitation).
  • Review Wage and Hour rules to stay in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).  During this pandemic, employers are looking closely at employees’ schedules and pay. If you are considering making changes to employees’ hours, where they work (i.e. remotely), cutting exempt employees’ hours, requiring use or capping of available paid time off (PTO, vacation, sick), and other options, you are still required to comply with all FLSA rules. We have provided a few FAQs from the Wage and Hour Division that apply to some of these situations you may be considering.  Download SCG’s FAQs from the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division – COVID-19 and the Fair Labor Standards Act

Please contact our HR Consulting Director, Linda Pappajohn, by email (Lpappajohn@santoracpagroup.com) if you need assistance implementing any of the FFCRA’s requirements. She is also available to discuss various options for you to consider if you are faced with cutting employees’ hours, forcing paid or unpaid time off, laying some employees off, and unemployment benefits.

And stay tuned for more information that is forthcoming during this crises…Santora CPA Group is always Right, By Your Side!

Santora CPA Group
Call us 302-737-6200