HR Tip of the Week: My Employee Lost Child Care Due to COVID-19. What Now?
As schools begin re-opening, many employers are wondering what happens if an employee’s childcare or child’s school closes due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
Under the FFCRA, an employee qualifies for expanded family leave if the employee is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed (or child care provider is unavailable) for reasons related to COVID-19. A full-time employee employed for at least 30 days is eligible for up to 12 weeks of leave (two weeks of paid sick leave followed by up to 10 weeks of paid expanded family & medical leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay) at 40 hours a week, and a part-time employee is eligible for leave for the number of hours that the employee is normally scheduled to work over that period.
These FFCRA provisions apply to certain public employers, and private employers with fewer than 500 employees. Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may qualify for exemption from the requirement to provide leave due to school closings or child care unavailability if the leave requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor