by Jim Taylor | Sep 15, 2020 | Compliance, COVID-19 Resources
The moment we have all been awaiting over the last several weeks has finally arrived. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued important regulations that clarify and revise who can qualify for emergency paid sick leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).
In this urgent update, we’ll cover the following:
- What is the background behind this important announcement by the DOL
- What specific clarifications and revisions were made
- What this means for your business moving forward
What is the background behind this important FFCRA announcement?
In April, U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken issued a ruling that found the DOL had exceeded its authority by blocking workers from FFCRA leave when their employer didn’t have any work for them to perform.
The challenge to this aspect of the FFCRA was originally put forward by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who also challenged the DOL’s interpretation of the FFCRA’s exclusion for healthcare providers, the rule’s limits on intermittent leave, and certain documentation requirements outlined in the language of the act.
Since Judge Oetken’s ruling, many employers have been left without clear guidance when trying to implement the new, but extremely important, FFCRA.
Hopefully the DOL’s clarifying announcement will be a light in the dark for employers who are trying to juggle many aspects of the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.
What specific clarifications and revisions were made?
The revisions, which were specifically made to the regulations that implemented the paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave provisions of the FFCRA, do the following:
- Reaffirm and provide additional explanation for the requirement that employees may take FFCRA leave only if work would otherwise be available to them.
- Reaffirm and provide additional explanation for the requirement that an employee have employer approval to take FFCRA leave intermittently.
- Revise the definition of “healthcare provider” to include only employees who meet the definition of that term under the Family and Medical Leave Act regulations or who are employed to provide diagnostic services, preventative services, treatment services or other services that are integrated with and necessary to the provision of patient care which, if not provided, would adversely impact patient care.
- Clarify that employees must provide required documentation supporting their need for FFCRA leave to their employers as soon as practicable.
- Correct an inconsistency regarding when employees may be required to provide notice of a need to take expanded family and medical leave to their employers.
To ensure we communicate this information to our readers accurately, the above bullet points were taken directly from the DOL’s announcement about these important revisions, which can be read in its entirety by clicking here.
What does this mean for your business moving forward?
Friday’s announcement reaffirms the DOL’s stance that leave under the FFCRA can only be taken if the employer actually has work for the employee to do. This is important, especially for businesses who have taken a hit during this pandemic. If an employer legitimately doesn’t have any work for the employee to do, they are allowed to reject the employee’s FFCRA leave request.
The DOL also remained firm in its original interpretation of intermittent, or periodic, leave under the FFCRA. Intermittent leave, according to this now clarified rule, is only allowed when the employee gets permission from their employer.
According to Friday’s announcement, “The Department believes the employer-approval condition for intermittent leave under its FMLA regulation is appropriate in the context of FFCRA intermittent leave for qualifying reasons that do not exacerbate risk of COVID-19 contagion. It is a longstanding principle of FMLA intermittent leave that such leave should, where foreseeable, avoid ‘unduly disrupting’ the employer’s operations.”
In addition to the previous two clarifications, the DOL revised the definition of “Health Care Provider” to mean, “employees who are health care providers…and other employees who are employed to provide diagnostic services, preventive services, treatment services, or other services that are integrated with and necessary to the provision of patient care.” This clarification was necessary because Judge Oetken had found that the agency’s previous definition was too broad and potentially excessively cut off workers from using FFCRA leave.
Employers in the health care industry should understand that this revised definition of “Health Care Provider,” – and the exclusion of health care providers in the first place – was done to, “provide a safety valve to ensure that critical health and safety services would not be understaffed during the pandemic.”
These revisions will officially take effect on Wednesday, September 16th. Keep in mind that the FFCRA will remain in place at least through the end of 2020. Assuming the pandemic has not ended by 2021, expect an expansion of the FFCRA to continue into next year.
Key Takeaways
Employers’ heads might be spinning after reading this announcement. This is important news that will have significant impacts on the workforce of many businesses and industries over the next few months. Employers should now feel that they have more leverage when it comes to dealing with employee FFCRA requests.
Here are the most important takeaways from this announcement:
- If you legitimately don’t have enough work for your employees to do (which very well might be the case if your business has been suffering during the pandemic), then you can deny employee requests for FFCRA leave under this new clarification from the DOL.
- Employees can only take intermittent leave if they have permission from their employer.
- Healthcare workers should understand that they might be excluded from the FFCRA.
- Employers should be aware that these revisions take effect as of Wednesday, September 16, 2020.
by Jim Taylor | Sep 1, 2020 | Compliance, COVID-19 Resources, Human Resources, Return to Work
As the COVID-19 situation continues to wear on, every school district in the country has been forced to make difficult decisions, many of which can easily be perceived as “lose-lose” due to the complexity of the ever-changing COVID regulations. Remote learning is certainly not ideal as it can force parents to stay home from work, and in-person learning comes with the obvious risks of exposing children and teachers to the virus.
Employers are caught in the middle of this issue as they try to understand the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA or Act) and how it applies to their employees with school age children at home.
This post is designed to provide some guidance to the millions of employers who now face the dilemma of how to best approach this situation.
In this post, we’ll cover:
- What things CAN you do to better understand the situation that your employees find themselves in.
- What things you must NOT do while trying to make leave decisions because they violate the FFCRA or other regulations.
- Things to consider as you weigh the pros and cons of certain FFCRA-related decisions.
Green Light: Things You CAN Do
If you are an employer or HR administrator who is tasked with making FFCRA leave decisions for employees whose children are starting the school year, the first thing you need to do is understand the specific situation of each employee who submits an FFCRA leave request. Fortunately, there are some questions that you are allowed to ask and other pieces of information you are allowed to request from your employee:
- You are allowed to ask how old the employee’s child or children are. If the child or children are age 15 or older, you can and should require that the employee provide a statement or affirmation that there are special circumstances that cause the older child to need their care. If the employee is unable to make such a statement or affirmation, then you can deny their FFCRA leave if the children are over 15.
- You are allowed to request from your employee the name of their child or children’s school, place of care, or caregiver that is closed or unavailable due to COVID-19. In the case of a closed school, you can contact the school district to confirm plans that the school has made, whether it’s in-person learning, remote learning, or a hybrid option. Remember, FFCRA leave is not available for the parents of a child whose school is open for in-person attendance. If the child is home not because his or her school is closed, but because the parent has chosen for the child to remain home, the parent is not entitled to FFCRA paid leave.
- Some employees may ask about the possibility of bringing their children to the office with them. Depending on the nature of your workplace, this is a possibility that you may want to consider. However, you should consult with an attorney or trusted insurance broker that is familiar with the kind of licensing and insurance that would be required to do this.
Most importantly, try to keep an open channel of communication with your employees. If your employees can see that you are there to support them, they will be much more willing to discuss compromise and alternatives such as only requesting a few hours off each day in the morning or afternoon. Alternatives like this can still allow your employees to get significant work done – which can make a world of difference during these uncertain economic times.
Red Light: Things YOU CANNOT Do
Now let’s talk about the things you must NOT do while considering FFCRA leave decisions for your employees:
- You cannot ask an employee to look for different childcare if their usual provider is unavailable. An employee is entitled to leave if the child’s usual care provider is unavailable due to COVID-19 — they are under no obligation to look for alternatives, and any attempt on your part to require that would be an illegal interference with their right to leave.
- You cannot request FFCRA documentation from an employee until after the first workday of FFCRA leave.
- If an employee with children over the age of 15 provides a statement explaining that there are special circumstances that cause the older child to need their care, you are not allowed to dig any deeper into the situation.
- Independent sleuthing to verify what an employee tells you is not a good idea. Never do anything that might infringe upon your employees’ right to privacy.
Yellow Light: Weighing the Pros and Cons of FFCRA Leave Decisions
When making decisions about approving or denying employee FFCRA requests, always be sure to weight the pros and cons of your decisions.
In some instances, you may be tempted to terminate an employee if they are unable to work and do not qualify for FFCRA leave. Assuming that no other leave laws apply, termination may be an option. However, you may want to instead consider offering the employee an unpaid personal leave of absence or revisiting whether a flexible or part-time work schedule would be better than losing the employee entirely. Recruiting, hiring, and training are all expensive undertakings, so if there’s a way to keep an employee around — even if they need some time off — that is likely better for your bottom line.
Making the determination that a leave request is fraudulent is another situation in which you’ll want to spend considerable time thinking about your next steps. If you feel like you have enough evidence to believe a leave request is fraudulent, you have the option to deny it. However, there is significant risk in denying a request for FFCRA leave if an employee has provided the appropriate documentation. Further, you don’t want to discipline an employee who was acting in good faith and simply misunderstood the leave rules.
Key Takeaways
There are still many gray areas related to the FFCRA. The Department of Labor will be releasing more guidance in the coming days and weeks. Be sure to stop by our blog regularly as we will make future posts that highlight the most important things that employers need to know about the FFCRA.
However, there are things that you CAN do and things that you CANNOT do related to the FFCRA as we’ve discussed in this post.
- You CAN ask certain questions to ensure that your employees qualify for FFCRA leave.
- You CANNOT ask an employee to look for different childcare if their usual provider is unavailable. And never do anything that violates an employee’s privacy.
- As is the case in many aspects of managing your business, take time to weigh the pros and cons of FFCRA decisions. While you may be tempted to try to fight an employee leave request, consider the long-term costs and benefits of doing so.
by Carolyn Kick | May 5, 2020 | Compliance, COVID-19 Resources
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) launched last month, temporarily expanding paid sick and FMLA leave for employees of businesses with headcounts of fewer than 500 as part of the national COVID-19 response. The follow-up CARES Act provided payroll tax credits for employers to offset the cost and impact of the leave expansion.
The quick but piecemeal rollout of legislation has created some confusion as to how employees should declare their eligibility/need for leave and what documentation trail needs to exist to ensure employers are eligible for tax credits.
In this post we’ll cover:
- What conditions or situations justify paid leave under the FFCRA
- What documentation employees should submit as part of an application for leave
- What documentation employers need to maintain to qualify for tax credits
Clarifying Who is FFCRA Leave Expansion Eligible
The FFCRA establishes three specific situations in which an employee working for a business with 499 or fewer employees qualifies for two weeks of paid sick leave at their regular rate, up to $5,110:
- If the employee is subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order
- If the employee has been advised by a healthcare provider to self-quarantine
- If the employee is experiencing symptoms associated with COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis
The act also establishes three other scenarios in which an employee working for a business with 499 or fewer employees qualifies for two weeks of paid sick leave at two-thirds (2/3) their regular rate, up to $2,000:
- If an employee is caring for an individual subject to a quarantine or isolation order
- If an employee is experiencing any substantially similar condition identified by the HHS
- If an employee is caring for a child whose school or daycare is closed or unavailable due to COVID-19
Finally, the act also provides extended family leave for situations in which schools or childcare facilities remain closed beyond the two weeks of leave above. During that 10-week period, employees earn two-thirds (2/3) their regular rate, up to $10,000 (in addition to the $2,000 from their two initial weeks of leave).
Documentation Requirements for Employees Requesting Leave
The DOL did not codify any single approach to transitioning employees toward COVID-19 leave, instead saying that employees should file their request as soon as possible and follow reasonable documentation procedures as soon as practical. Here are the specific pieces of information/documentation the DOL stipulates employees must provide:
In their signed request for leave, employees must provide:
- Their full legal name (as it appears on IRS records)
- Their qualifying reason for leave (from the above list)
- A clear statement that their illness or responsibilities prevent them from working from home during this time
- Their anticipated date for return
If the employee is requesting leave due to a quarantine order, they must also provide:
- The name of the government entity who issued the order
If an employee is requesting leave because a healthcare provider has instructed them to, they must also provide:
- The name of the healthcare provider
If an employee is requesting leave to care for a child without school or daycare, they must provide:
- The child’s full legal name as it appears on school rosters
- The name of the school, childcare facility, or provider who is closed or unable to provide care due to COVID-19
- A clear statement that they are the only option to provide care for this child at this time
As long as you’re requiring, collecting, and maintaining the above documentation, you and your employees are compliant in the eyes of the DOL.
What About a Doctor’s Note?
Generally speaking, a doctor’s note is the gold standard for medical leave and should be provided in COVID-19-related ADA accommodation requests. However, the DOL is not requiring one as part of their leave documentation procedure, in part because the strain of the pandemic is putting on the medical community.
That means if an employee believes they have COVID-19 or needs to care for someone who does, waiting to get a doctor’s note could actually put more of your employees at risk. That’s why the best guidance for now is to keep your application protocol relatively straightforward and stick to the DOL’s documentation requirements.
Documentation Requirements for Tax Credits
While the DOL’s documentation requirements are crucial to executing the FFCRA correctly, the IRS’ documentation requirements are equally important to getting the payroll tax credits available to help your business weather this storm.
In order to maintain eligibility for your tax credits, you must maintain:
- IRS Form 7200
- IRS Form 941
- Any other documentation related to filing for credits with the IRS
- Documentation of how you calculated FMLA/sick leave pay for employees
- Documentation of how you determined the amount of qualified health plan expenses that you allocated to wages
In terms of documentation from your employees, the IRS’ requirements are extremely similar to the DOL’s, but there are a few key differences, specifically involving childcare scenarios.
The IRS requires documentation of the following information for employees requesting leave under the FFCRA to care for a child or children whose school(s) or place(s) of childcare are closed due to COVID-19:
- The full name of each child as they appear on school rosters
- The name of the school, childcare facility, or provider no longer able to provide childcare due to COVID-19
- A clear statement that they are the only option to provide care for this child at this time
- In the case of a child over 14 who would only be alone during daylight hours, employees should provide a statement explaining the special circumstances that require childcare
Takeaways
The goal of the FFCRA is to protect individuals and families across America during the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act backs up the FFCRA by providing businesses with the tax credits they need to make the considerable leave expansion feasible. Getting those credits requires documentation of the right information, however.
Remember:
- There is no official leave documentation process for the DOL, but they do require a few specific pieces of information
- The IRS has slightly stricter requirements for documentation of childcare-related leave
- IRS forms 7200 and 941 are essential to receiving your tax credits
- Be ready to explain how you calculated wages for employees on leave and determined your health plan expenses
by Carolyn Kick | Apr 29, 2020 | Compliance, COVID-19 Resources, Return to Work
The COVID-19 outbreak is changing nearly everything about how we work and do business. And if changing work conditions weren’t enough for employees to deal with, they also have to navigate a host of new federal policies including temporarily expanded sick leave and FMLA family leave. But, they don’t have to do it alone. Employers can help their team members work more effectively while achieving a healthy work-life balance by setting clear leave policies.
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act established Emergency Paid Sick Leave and drastically, albeit temporarily, expanded the scope of the Family Medical Leave Act. But it also left it up to employers to set the terms of how employees can use that leave. That means that employers must educate themselves on how their team members can take advantage of the leave to protect themselves and their families while staying productive, and then provide clear guidelines for their teams.
This can be particularly useful for employees who don’t want to take time off of work but have to take care of children who are now home from school or childcare. These employees are entitled to paid leave if they decide not to work. But they may not know how to take paid leave for time spent caring for their children while working part-time. That’s where employers can help employees navigate the situation so that they can work as much as possible while simultaneously taking care of their other obligations.
In this article, we’ll provide an overview of how employers can set flexible leave policies and help their team members navigate the new leave policies including:
- Employees’ leave coverage under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act
- How to expand the leave policies to help your team members work more effectively during the outbreak and as businesses begin returning to work
Employees’ Rights Under the Act
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act implemented several employee leave expansions that went into effect at the beginning of April. We wrote a full overview that you can read here, but here is a quick overview of what your employees are entitled to from the FFCRA if you have fewer than 500 employees:
- 2 weeks full paid sick leave if they are unable to work due to COVID-19 illness, quarantined due to exposure, or are experiencing symptoms and waiting for a diagnosis
- Paid sick leave is available to employees who are quarantined but not sick only if they cannot work remotely
- 2 weeks of paid family leave at 2/3 pay if they need to care for an individual subjected to quarantine or need to take care of minors whose schools or childcare facilities are closed due to the virus
- 10 weeks of extended family leave at 2/3 pay if employees need to take care of minors and have been with the company for at least 30 days
Notably, if your company has 49 or fewer employees, you can apply for a small business exemption. But unless you receive a small business exemption, you cannot prevent qualified employees from taking leave. Nor, given the current health crisis, should you aim to prevent employees from taking the leave they need. Your leave costs will likely be covered by tax credits under the new CARES Act. It’s often in your best interest to help your employees maximize their ability to leverage the leave policies, especially to discourage the spread of the virus amongst your workforce.
Expanding Leave Policies for More Effective Work
Under the FFCRA, employees may not be eligible for leave if they are healthy, do not have to care for minors, and can work remotely. While on the other end of the scale, employees who have to take care of minors may be eligible for a full 12 weeks of leave, paid at 2/3 their normal rate. However, many employees who do qualify for leave to take care of minors, but can work remotely, will not want to take three months away from their work. And many employees may be concerned about keeping some of that time in reserve, since no one knows how long the outbreak will last. That’s where employers can help their employees make the most of their paid leave while simultaneously minimizing the disruption to their business.
You have the right to force employees to either work full time or go on leave. But it is often in both of your best interests to work out an arrangement where employees with family obligations work as much as they can while taking leave when they cannot. And the FFCRA gives employers a lot of leeway in allowing employees to take sporadic or intermittent paid leave.
Employers can allow employees to take paid leave in increments anywhere from week-to-week, day-to-day, or even hour-to-hour. That means you could allow your team members to take paid leave to homeschool their children every other day while working full time on the other days. Or they can take a few hours of paid leave every day to take care of their family obligations and work for the rest of the work day. And this does not just apply to remote employees: you can allow employees who have to come into the workplace to work a partial schedule while taking paid leave on their days off.
It’s important to remember that employers are not obligated to provide this kind of flexibility. But it can often be in your best interest to work with employees to find the best arrangement for both parties. Not only will it allow you to retain key employees, on a partial basis, who would otherwise go on full-time leave, thus reducing the disruption to your business from COVID-19, but it can also have a lasting impact on employee relations. Employees will remember it if you work to help them juggle their work and non-work obligations, increasing loyalty and productivity in the long-term. On the other hand, they will also remember if you took an all-or-nothing approach that adhered to the bare minimum requirements of the FFCRA. It’s crucial to consider the optics of your approach to leave during COVID and as employees begin transitioning back to work.
To recap, you are allowed but not required under the FFCRA to let your team members take emergency paid sick leave or family medical leave:
- On a day-by-day basis while working a partial schedule either remotely or in-person
- On an hourly basis to allow for reduced hours per day, either around a shorter shift or to allow for breaks to care for family
- On a weekly or monthly basis
- At your discretion, within the limitations of the FFCRA (you can prevent employees from working until they come back from leave but you cannot prevent them from taking continuous leave while they qualify for it)
You should decide which of these arrangements, if any, will work for your business and then set a clear leave policy. Then, inform your entire staff of that policy and work with each employee to help them set up the arrangement that works best for them, within the limits set in your policy. Clarity and flexibility will help your business run smoothly and help your employees balance their work with their other obligations.
Key Takeaways
With the COVID-19 outbreak continuing to disrupt every part of life and business as we know it, we can all benefit from working together to find solutions. The FFCRA requires that employers offer 2-12 weeks of paid leave for qualifying employees at either full or 2/3 pay and you should take responsibility for that obligation. If you create flexible leave policies that enable employees to work as much as they can while taking only as much leave as they need, you can minimize disruptions to your business. Setting clear and flexible leave policies and helping employees take advantage of those policies is truly a win-win strategy. Just remember that:
- Healthy employees who do not need to care for minors or sick family members may not be eligible for any expanded leave and can be required to work full time if they can work remotely
- Employers are allowed to decide whether and how their employees can take intermittent sick or family medical leave
- If they chose to, employers can let their employees take their expanded leave on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis
For more on the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act and running a business during the COVID-19 outbreak, check out Launchways’ comprehensive resources on our COVID-19 Emergency Resource Center.
by Carolyn Kick | Apr 28, 2020 | Compliance, COVID-19 Resources, Return to Work
Filling out form I-9 is a standard onboarding procedure for any new hire. The new employee fills out Section 1 and provides supporting documentation of their identification and work-eligible status; then an HR professional makes copies of that documentation, completes Sections 2 and 3 (as applicable), and retains the form.
Generally speaking, it’s expected that the I-9 is completed in person, with the new hire and a HR professional exchanging physical documentation and verifying information face-to-face.
However, given the CDC’s social distancing guidance for COVID-19, that procedure obviously isn’t appropriate for this moment. In order to enable strong businesses to continue hiring and providing meaningful work for new employees, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has temporarily deferred in-person I-9 verification.
Moving forward, we’ll explore:
- Hiring/operating procedures during the current COVID-19 I-9 deferral period
- The term of the deferral
- Compliance expectations at the end of the deferral
- The value of this deferral period for businesses
Modified Procedures for COVID-19
The DHS has temporarily suspended the need for in-person I-9 verification. That means businesses can continue to hire and onboarding new employees remotely during this time without fear of non-compliance.
For now, documents pertaining to identity verification and employment eligibility can be submitted and reviewed remotely (i.e. by scanning and attaching documents to an email or submitting through an HR portal). Copies of those files should be retained in your internal HR records.
DHS’ verification deferral has also loosened up the time window for I-9 completion. Temporarily, employers have three working days to complete the paperwork and confirm documentation instead of just one day.
How Long Will This Deferral Last?
The I-9 verification deferral period will end either sixty (60) days from March 20, 2020 or three (3) days after the end of the COVID-19 national emergency has been announced, whichever comes first.
What Do We Need to Do to Comply When This is Over?
Once the deferral period ends (as described above), employers have three business days to complete standard in-person I-9 verifications for any employees they have hired and onboarded during the deferral.
Under “Additional Information” on Section 2 of form I-9, the employer must note that COVID-19 temporarily prevented them from a detailed physical review of the original documentation and provide the date they physically examined the documents. From there, the forms can be filed and retained as usual.
Why is This Deferral Good for Business?
In-person I-9 verification would prevent many businesses from filling the holes in their depth chart created by COVID-19, as employees must take leave for their own health, to care for a family member, or to supervise children. By enabling streamlined remote hiring, the DHS is providing support to businesses who are doing their best to continue the work and provide paychecks to their teams during this time.
Furthermore, remote hiring has the potential to connect great talent with jobs where they can be impactful faster than ever, fighting back record unemployment to help jumpstart the economy once again.
Takeaways
The Department of Homeland Security is deferring in-person I-9 verification during COVID-19-related social distancing. This is a great opportunity for businesses to fill out their teams and keep the work going without slipping into noncompliance, but it’s important to remember:
- The deferral window will end on May 19 or 3 days after the national emergency is declared to be over
- Employers still need to review digital versions of identification/eligibility documents within three days of hire
- When the deferral period ends, employers will have 3 days to complete traditional in-person I-9 verification
by Carolyn Kick | Apr 9, 2020 | Compliance, COVID-19 Resources, Human Resources
COVID-19 is continuing to affect our ability to do work in the way we’re all used to. For billions of workers around the world, there has never been a greater time of uncertainty and concern.
In order to continue the work effectively, you need to address those concerns directly. Furthermore, you need to codify your expectations for work and behavior during this time to give employees something to hold onto and provide them with stability and knowledge during this time of unknowns.
One emerging best practice is creating an employee handbook addendum specifically built around modifications to work and workplace culture created by COVID-19. By including this information in your handbook, you create both a new level of clarity and a new level of accountability for employees.
Moving forward, we’ll explore:
- What you need to add to your employee handbook to address employee safety at this time
- What you need to add to your employee handbook to address remote work enablement at this time
- What you need to add to your employee handbook to address work reductions, potential layoffs, etc.
Safety in the Workplace
Everybody’s health, safety, and wellness should be the top priority at this time. Here’s a list of considerations your employee handbook needs to address in order to keep everybody safe!
For each consideration, it’s important to think about:
- How you will communicate expectations
- How you will bring the modifications to life
- How you will enforce new employee expectations
- How you will keep yourself accountable for employee safety
Handwashing
You need to clearly communicate your expectations when it comes to employees washing their hands. Handwashing is key to preventing the spread of COVID-19, and if you’re going to protect your workforce, you need an official enforceable policy.
Your policy needs to communicate which occasions should lead to an employee washing their hands. The exact shape of your policy will likely depend on the kind of work your employees are doing, but here are some situations you should think about addressing in your policy:
- Should employees wash their hands immediately upon arriving at work?
- Should employees wash their hands regularly on any set timeframe (i.e. every 30 minutes)?
- Should employees wash their hands any time they exit and re-enter the building?
- Should employees wash their hands at the start and/or conclusion of any breaks?
- Should employees wash their hands immediately before or after any specific work task or processes?
Surface/Workspace Disinfection
It’s now believed that COVID-19 spreads on surfaces much more effectively than scientists originally thought. That means keeping frequently touched surfaces clean and disinfected is essential to community health in your workplace.
Your policy needs to address both what responsibilities individual employees have when it comes to cleaning and what new practices the company as a whole will employ. For example:
- How often are employees expected to clean and disinfect their individual workstations?
- With what kind of cleaning materials should individual employees disinfect their workstations?
- How will individual employees clean/disinfect shared surfaces and equipment after they use them (i.e. equipment, communal spaces like the break room, etc.)?
- What additional custodial/janitorial practices will your business adopt to protect your workers?
Checking Employee Temperatures
Checking employee temperatures when they enter the building is very inconvenient, but it’s also a best practice for limited the spread of coronavirus in settings like healthcare or retail/hospitality, where there’s frequent interaction between employees and the public.
Your handbook needs to address:
- When and where regular employee temperature checks will occur
- Procedures for employees who display a fever upon temperature check
- Procedures for employees who feel they are developing a fever at work
- When and where temperature checks for incoming members of the public will occur
- Procedures for members of the public who display a fever upon temperature check
Eliminating Shared Food
Usually sharing food regularly is a feature of a healthy, positive workplace culture, but now is not the time for potlucks or picnics. Your handbook must clearly establish the expectation that there will be no communal eating or sharing of food at this time. That means:
- Modifying procedures in expectations in the cafeteria, breakroom, etc.
- Modifying policies on free food from managers as a work incentive/reward
- Providing employees with guidance on how they can eat in safe, compliant ways
- Explicitly stating areas in which nobody should be eating
Staggering Breaks
As we’ve explored, community spaces are a very touchy issue during this time. It’s important everybody has access to what they need, but it’s equally crucial to create that access in social distancing-friendly ways. Staggering breaks is a great way to do that, but you need to create a strong policy that addresses:
- How these modifications will be provided in ways that are compliant with labor laws, collective bargaining agreements, etc.
- How supervisors/managers will release employees for breaks
- Maximum number of employees on break at one time
- Expectations for employees during breaks
- Procedures for employees returning from break
Social Distancing
It’s important for your business’ employee handbook addendum for COVID-19 to address how employees will maintain at least six feet of distance between each other at all times.
Your policy needs to include:
- How you (the employer) will modify the space to support social distancing
- Daily measures employees need to make to support social distancing
- How employees will interact with customers/the public in ways that support social distancing
- How you will address situations where an entire team can no longer share the same physical space during the workday
- The elimination of in-person meetings and expectations for video/remote conferencing
FMLA & Paid Sick Leave Expansion Under FFCRA
Does FFCRA Apply to Us?
If you have fewer than 500 employees (499 or less), your company must comply with FMLA & paid sick leave expansion under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
If you have 500 or more employees, the temporary expansion does not apply to you.
If you have 50 or fewer employees and the expansion would threaten the viability of your business, you can apply for a small business exemption.
What Does Our Policy Need to Address?
Responsibilities Under the Act
The FFCRA states that employers must provide up to two weeks (80 hours) for full-time workers or a part-time employee’s two-week equivalent in sick time at their regular rate of pay if they:
- Are subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19
- Have been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine related to COVID-19
- Are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis
The FFCRA also provides up to 80 hours of paid sick leave at 2/3 the employee’s regular rate if they:
- Are caring for an individual subject to a quarantine/isolation order or self-quarantine
- Are experiencing any other substantially-similar condition specified by the US Department of Health and Human Services
Additionally, the FFCRA creates up to 12 weeks of paid sick leave and expanded FMLA leave at 2/3 the employee’s regular rate if they:
- Are caring for their child whose school or place of care is closed or unavailable due to COVID-19 related reasons
What Your Handbook Needs to Address
In your COVID-19 handbook addendum, you need to explain to your employees:
- How much paid leave they are entitled to (see above)
- Procedures for application/approval of paid leave
- Procedures for communication/check-in during paid leave
- Procedures for returning to work at the end of paid leave
Telecommuting or Work-from-Home Policy
Right now, safety is everybody’s number one concern, but after that’s addressed, continuing organizational momentum is the next concern. Given the variety of regional stay-at-home orders, work enablement for most businesses will require considerable expansion of telecommuting and work-from-home programs.
Your handbook should describe your telecommuting program and provide employees with an understanding of:
- Who is eligible to work from home
- How to apply for or request to work from home
- General expectations for work-from-home continuity
Anytime you transition an employee from the traditional office setting toward telecommuting, it’s important to have a formal agreement in place. That document should effectively be a contract that communicates:
- The approximate length of the work-from-home engagement
- The individual names and signatures of the employee and either their supervisor or an HR professional
- Attendance, time-logging, and overtime expectations
- Expectations for the use of company-owned devices and platforms from home
- Official communication platforms and expectations in terms of check-ins
- Procedures for expense reporting and reimbursement
Hour Reductions
Your COVID-19 addendum needs to address what will happen if your business cuts back employee hours or temporarily closes during this economic slowdown, including:
- Procedures for communicating with employees about hour reductions
- Employee rights during their time of reduced hours
- Continuity of employee benefits during their time of reduced hours
- Procedures for re-expansion of work hours down the line
- How employees with reduced hours can connect with employee assistance programs and other resources
- Communication expectations for employees whose hours have been reduced
Furloughs & Temporary Layoffs
Your handbook also needs to address how furloughs and temporary layoffs will be conducted during this tough time. This section needs to help employees understand how furloughs or layoffs will be conducted and how they can protect themselves and their families, including:
- Timeline for reevaluation of furloughs and layoffs
- Continuity of employee benefits during their time of furlough or layoff
- How furloughed or laid off employees can connect with employee assistance programs and other resources
- Expectations for employees during furlough or layoff
- Official communication platforms during furlough or layoff
- Reinstatement procedures for furlough’s end
Key Takeaways
COVID-19 has already significantly disrupted our business space, and it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. That’s why it’s so crucial every business creates an addendum to their employee handbook at this time to provide clarity, reassurance, and structure for employees during this tough time.
Remember:
- Your first priority should be protecting health and safety: How will you keep employees safe? How will they be expected to keep each other and your business safe?
- Your second priority should be work enablement: How will you ensure your employees are able to continue high-quality work through telecommuting, working from home, and other outside-the-box approaches?
- You also need to help employees understand how you will address work reductions, furloughs, and layoffs.
