The bill requires certain employers to provide employees with two weeks (10 days) of paid sick time if the employee is unable to work (or telework) for the following coronavirus-related reasons:
- The employee is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to the coronavirus;
- The employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to the coronavirus;
- The employee is experiencing symptoms of coronavirus and is seeking a medical diagnosis;
- The employee is caring for an individual who is subject to a quarantine or isolation order or advised to self-quarantine by a health care provider;
- The employee is caring for a child whose school or care provider is closed or unavailable due to coronavirus precautions; and
- The employee is experiencing any other condition substantially similar to the coronavirus, as specified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
- Covered Employees and Employers
- Private sector employers with fewer than 500 employees, government employers, and all other non-private entity employers with more than one employee are required to provide their employees with paid sick leave.
- The bill entitles employees of covered employers to paid sick leave regardless of how long the employee has worked for the employer. The legislation further gives the Secretary of Labor the authority to exempt small businesses with fewer than 50 employees from the bill’s paid leave requirements if those requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business.
- Exception for Health Care Providers and Emergency Responders. Employers who are health care providers or emergency responders may elect to exclude their employees from the public health emergency leave provisions of the bill.
- Paid Sick Time
- Full-time employees are entitled to 80 hours of paid sick leave. Part-time employees are entitled to the number of hours that the employee works, on average, over a two-week period.
- For hourly employees whose schedules vary, the employee’s paid leave rate should equal the average number of hours that the employee was scheduled per day over the six-month period prior to the leave. If the employee did not work in the preceding six-month period, the paid leave rate should equal the “reasonable expectation” of the employee at the time of hiring with respect to the average number of hours per day that the employee would be scheduled to work.
- Once an employee’s coronavirus-related need for using the emergency paid sick leave ends, then the employer may terminate the paid sick time.
- Paid sick time provided under the bill shall not carry over from one year to the next.
- Paid Leave Rate
- Employees who take paid sick leave because they are subject to a quarantine or isolation order, have been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine, or are experiencing coronavirus symptoms and seeking medical diagnosis are entitled to be paid at their regular pay rate or at the federal, state or local minimum wage, whichever is greater. In these circumstances, the paid sick leave rate may not exceed $511 per day, or $5,110 in aggregate.
- Employees who take paid sick leave to care for another individual or child or because they are experiencing another substantially similar illness (as specified by HHS) are entitled to be paid at two-thirds their regular rate. In these circumstances, the paid sick leave rate may not exceed $200 per day, or $2,000 in aggregate.
- Effect on Existing Paid Leave Agreements
- An employer may not require an employee to use other paid leave provided by the employer before using the paid sick time provided under this bill.
- Employee Notice Requirement
- After the first workday (or portion of a day) an employee receives paid sick time, an employer may require the employee to follow “reasonable notice procedures” in order to continue receiving paid sick time.
- Employer Notice Requirement
- Employers shall post and keep posted, in conspicuous places, notice of the emergency paid sick leave requirements made available under the bill.
- Multiemployer Bargaining Agreements
- The bill provides that employees who work under a multiemployer collective agreement and whose employers pay into a multiemployer plan are provided with leave for coronavirus-related reasons.
- Prohibitions and Enforcement
- Employers may not discharge, discipline, or discriminate against any employee who (a) takes paid sick leave or (b) has filed a complaint or proceeding or testified in any such proceeding related to the benefits and protections provided by this bill.
- Employers may not require, as a condition of providing paid sick time, that an employee search for a find a replacement employee to cover the hours during which the employee is using paid sick time.
- Employers who violate the paid sick leave requirements or retaliation prohibitions shall be subject to civil penalties under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
- Effective Date and Expiration
- The requirements are in effect 15 days after the enactment of the legislation through December 31, 2020.