DOL Updates FFCRA FAQs

On December 31, 2020, the DOL updated its FAQs for the FFCRA by adding FAQ numbers 104 and 105. These new FAQs concern issues relating to the fact that employers are no longer required to provide EPSL and EFMLA after December 31, 2020.

FAQ 104 asks whether an employee, who was eligible to take leave under the FFCRA but did not take any of that leave in 2020, was entitled to that leave after December 31. The DOL states that employers no longer must provide such leave; however, they can voluntarily provide the leave. Although recent legislation did not extend the time that covered employers must provide the leave, it did allow employers who opt to voluntarily provide that leave to obtain tax credits for granting the leave until March 31, 2021.

FAQ 105 asks whether a covered employer must pay an employee for any outstanding leave granted under EFMLA, to which she was entitled, once the leave provisions under FFCRA expired. The employee in question used six weeks of FFCRA leave before the end of the year, but her employer has not paid her for the last two weeks of that leave. The DOL stated that there is a statute of limitations for violations of the FFCRA that runs from two years from the date of the alleged violation (it is three years for willful violations). The agency will investigate and enforce complaints related to the FFCRA made within this time. So, employers are still obliged to pay outstanding wages owed under that law (and under the example above, the employee would be entitled to the last two weeks of pay).

Employers should be aware of these new FAQs, now that the obligation to provide leave under the FFCRA has expired.

DOL FFCRA FAQs  »