On March 18, 2020, the federal government enacted a new law to provide paid sick and family leave to employees of businesses with fewer that 500 employees.  Effective April 2, 2020, employees will be eligible to receive up to two weeks of paid sick time at full pay if subject to a COVID-19 relates order of quarantine or isolation or are experiencing symptoms and seeking medical diagnosis.  Employees caring for someone who is subject to quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19 are entitled to up to two weeks of paid sick leave at 2/3 of their regular pay. 

Once the sick pay has been exhausted, employees may be entitled to paid family leave for employees with a minor child in the event of the closure of the child’s school or day care due to COVID-19 precautions. Under this provision, the employees would receive paid family leave at 2/3 of their regular pay for up to 10 weeks.  However, there are restrictions on this and excludes employees who can work remotely from home.

The last part of this law is to provide reimbursement to the employers through payroll tax credits that may be taken immediately as part of regular payroll tax deposits.  Therefore, it is critical for affected small businesses to work closely with their payroll companies to coordinate these efforts.

Since this federal law is not effective until April 2, 2020, New York state enacted a new law to provide paid sick time to employees for this interim period.  However, this law only covers sick leave related to the employee being ill or under quarantine and not sick leave to care for affected dependents and other family members.  Also, the amount of coverage depends on the size of the business.

If your payroll company is not providing you with timely updates on these fast moving new COVID-19 laws, then maybe it is time for you to make a change.  Total Team Solutions has provided three detailed client notices to all clients to keep them well informed during these unusual times so they can make timely and intelligent business decisions.  If you would like to learn more about the new COVID-19 regulations and how to stay informed of all regulatory matters that affect your small business, contact John Morlock at jmorlock@ttspro.com or call him at 800-836-9678, ext. 5.