Late last month, the U.S. Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Included in the law, were two new paid leave provisions: Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSL), and Expanded Family and Medical Leave (EFML), that will allow the university to provide additional paid time off to those affected by COVID-19 (coronavirus).
Human Resources, Payroll, and other business administration professionals across campus are working through how the university will roll out these new leave options. Once these leave options are available to employees, time off under both new leave options will be retroactively available as of April 1, 2020.
Below is an overview of the additional leave options that will soon be available. We understand that many of you may have additional questions. We will work to address many of them with an online FAQ that will available when the new leave options are rolled out. In the meantime, we would encourage you to review the Department of Labor’s FFCRA FAQ webpage for additional information.
Overview of Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSL)
EPSL provides up to two weeks (80 hours for full-time; prorated for part-time) of paid sick leave to an eligible employee who is unable to work either on campus or remotely because the employee:
- is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19;
- has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine related to COVID-19;
- is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis;
- is caring for an individual subject to a quarantine or isolation order as described in (1), or has been advised to self-isolate as described in (2);
- is caring for their child whose school or place of care is closed, or whose child care provider is unavailable due to COVID-19 related reasons; or
- is experiencing any other substantially-similar condition specified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
All employees, including non-benefits eligible and student employees, are eligible for EPSL, and the university has chosen to provide 100% pay for all employees utilizing time under the EPSL, regardless of the reason.
Overview of Expanded Family and Medical Leave (EFML)
EFML provides up to 12 weeks (480 hours for full-time; prorated for part-time) of leave to an employee who is caring for their child whose school or place of care is closed, or whose child care provider is unavailable due to COVID-19 related reasons.
Employees who have been employed for at least 30 calendar days are eligible for EFML. The first two weeks of EFML are unpaid and can run concurrently with EPSL or paid time off accruals. The remaining 10 weeks of EFML are paid at 2/3 pay. EFML is an expansion of the current Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), so prior usage of FMLA may impact paid time off available under the EFML.