The federal Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows a qualified employee to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave within a 12-month period if they or an immediate family member requires care for a “serious health condition.” The law also entitles a qualified employee to continued health insurance benefits and requires their employer to offer them the same or equivalent position when they return. Qualified employees are those who have worked for at least one year, over 1,250 hours in the prior year, and whose employer has at least 50 employees in a 75-mile radius.
The Family First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) allows employees who work for employers of less than 500 employees to take up to 80 hours of emergency sick leave. An employee may take emergency sick leave under the FFCRA if they are:
The rate of pay varies depending on the circumstances and more information is available through the Department of Labor.
State and local laws may provide even greater protection for employees.
It depends. If your employer has a policy that provides paid leave for those who are forced to take time off in connection with an illness, then the terms of the policy will dictate your employer’s obligations. Some states and cities have laws that provide employees with access to paid sick leave.
The FFCRA allows employees of companies with less than 500 employees to take up to 80 hours of emergency sick leave for qualified reasons, as follows:
These payments are subject to limits on maximum benefits and more information is available through the Department of Labor.
No. The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against individuals with a disability. In certain circumstances, an employee who has an underlying condition exacerbated by the coronavirus (for instance, asthma or a heart condition) may be considered disabled.
The ADA defines a disability as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a history or record of such an impairment, or a perception by others of such an impairment. Besides prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities, the ADA requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations for such individuals. State and local laws sometimes extend additional protections for people with disabilities or serious health conditions.
Generally, there is no legal right to telecommuting, as employers have the right to dictate the terms of employment. If an underlying disability places you at high risk for coronavirus, you may have the right to telecommute as an accommodation, depending on whether working from home is reasonable under the circumstances.
The FFCRA permits employees to take emergency sick leave to care for a child whose school or day care has closed, or where childcare is otherwise unavailable because of coronavirus protections. In addition, employees may be entitled up to an additional 10 weeks of leave at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay if an employee is unable to work due to bona fide child care needs related to COVID-19.
Employers have the right to set the terms and conditions of employment, which includes work location, so long as they comply with the law. That means that an employer can require employees to work from home due to a reason such as business need or health and safety.
However, an employer may not mandate that certain people work from home because of a perceived or actual disability if it would operate as an adverse action based on a disability. For example, if working from home was akin to a demotion or resulted in lower pay for only certain individuals, those individuals may be protected by federal, state, or local statutes that prohibit discrimination based on a disability.
Yes! If you are an exempt (salaried) employee and you work any portion of the week, you must be paid your regular weekly pay. Non-exempt (hourly) employees who work from home are entitled to be paid for all hours worked, including overtime hours.
It depends on the state in which you work. In California for example, it is not. California requires an employer to reimburse workers for things like internet access, computers, and cell phones used for work. If the expenses you incur in setting up your home office causes your weekly pay to drop below the minimum wage, you may have a claim under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and some state wage and hour laws.
There are specific laws that protect employees from mass layoffs. The federal Worker Adjustment And Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, requires companies to give affected employees 60-days advanced written notice of the mass layoff, worksite closing, or plant closing, but there are exceptions that may apply.
Several states and cities require an employer to provide schedules in advance and must pay the workers when they take away or add shifts. Some laws also require extra pay when employers require workers to work split shifts, and if you are laid off or have your hours reduced, you may be entitled to unemployment benefits, which vary by jurisdiction.
If your employer offers you a severance agreement, it is important to consult with an attorney about what rights you may have and what rights you may be giving up by signing the agreement.
As the coronavirus outbreak has escalated, some employees have reported negative treatment from employers or coworkers because of their race, ethnicity, or national origin. That type of mistreatment is discrimination, and it’s illegal under federal law and many state and local laws.
If you feel you have been a victim of workplace discrimination or unlawful workplace treatment during this COVID-19 crisis, we invite you to download the #NotMe App and report your issue via our new COVID-19 questionnaire. The #NotMe team is available to assist you.