Legal Alert: Labor Department Throws COVID-19 Curveball In Latest Guidance, Suggests Shut Down Employees Won’t Qualify For Leave

This legal alert was published on March 29, 2020 by Steven Bernstein (Tampa), Benjamin Ebbink (Sacramento), Samantha Monsees (Kansas City), Samantha Saltzman (Irvine), and J. Hagood Tighe (Columbia).

The Department of Labor (DOL) continues to update its guidance document on implementation of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), and the latest update caught many employers by surprise. The updated document released by the agency appears to suggest that employees who cannot work because their businesses are subject to a government shutdown order or they are ordered to shelter at home will not qualify for Emergency Paid Sick Leave or Emergency FMLA. This clarification should now be integrated into employers’ plans for developing best practices and compliance tools to deal with the rapidly changing situation.