This article is an update of an article posted on December 22, 2020.
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 in order to fund the government through September 30, 2021 and provide economic relief in response to the coronavirus pandemic. This law does not extend the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) provisions, meaning that employers will not be required to provide paid sick leave or expanded FMLA leave under the FFCRA after December 31, 2020.
Although the FFCRA’s provisions were not extended into 2021, the law extends the FFCRA tax credit through March 31, 2021. As a result, beginning on January 1, 2021, employers are no longer required to provide FFCRA leave but private employers with fewer than 500 employees and certain public employers who voluntarily offer such leave may utilize payroll tax credits to cover the cost of benefits paid to employees through the end of March.
This law does not change the qualifying reasons for which employees are entitled to receive FFCRA leave, or the FFCRA’s documentation requirements. This law also does not change the amount of FFCRA leave that employees are entitled to take. This means that an employer is not entitled to a second tax credit for an employee taking FFCRA leave in 2021, when that employee has already exhausted such leave in 2020.
Please contact your KDDK attorney or any member of the KDDK labor and employment law team for additional information and individualized guidance on the FFCRA or any related topic.
For additional information on this or any related topic, please contact any of the KDDK labor and employment law professionals.
