This week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued additional questions and answers to assist employers and employees in understanding the new provision of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (
FFCRA
).
FFCRA establishes and requires Emergency Paid Sick Leave and expands the Family and Medical Leave Act (EFMLA) for certain employees and employers. Covered employers, those with less than 500 employees, are required to provide employees with
paid sick leave and paid family and medical leave
for qualifying reasons related to the coronavirus (COVID-19).
FFCRA also provides a
tax credit
to employers to mitigate the costs of providing the required leave.
The FFCRA became effective on April 1, 2020 and remains in effect through December 31, 2020.
The key provision in the new DOL questions and answers that would relate to our CSW member offices is #56, which further defines
specific exclusions for Health Care Providers
.
EXCLUSION FOR HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS:
Under both the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and the EFMLA,
employers of health care providers or emergency responders may elect to exclude such employees from eligibility for the leave.
The recent DOL questions and answers state that a “health care provider” is
anyone employed by any doctor’s office
, hospital, health care center, clinic, post-secondary educational institution offering health care instruction, medical school, local health department or agency, nursing facility, retirement facility, nursing home, home health care provider
any facility that performs laboratory or medical testing, pharmacy, or any similar institution, employer, or entity.
A state governor can also determine who is a “health care provider” necessary for the state’s response to COVID-19.
Based on the DOL questions and answers, a
chiropractor and anyone employed at a chiropractor’s office is a “health care provider,” and therefore, it is at the practice’s discretion whether to provide employees paid leave under the FFCRA.
The DOL questions and answers do state that, in order t
o minimize the spread of the virus associated with COVID-19, employers should be judicious when using the definition of health care provider to exempt employees from the provisions of the FFCRA. If practices choose to allow employees to take leave under the FFCRA, they will still be entitled to the tax credits.
There is no waiver or any required action necessary to effectuate this exclusion. It is recommended, however, that practices notify employees that, as a health care provider, they are excluded from this paid leave entitlement. It is a good idea to post a notice explaining the practice’s position on this exemption. (
See sample notice.
)
The DOL will be implementing regulations related to the FFCRA and, as warranted, will continue to provide compliance assistance to employers and employees regarding their rights and responsibilities under the FFCRA. We will issue updated alerts if any such regulations or compliance assistance impacts this information or our members.
