Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act

The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act applies to all employees who have completed 30 days of employment. Employers may apply for exceptions for an employee who is a healthcare provider or an emergency first responder.

An employee who needs to care for a child under 18 because the child's school or place of care is either closed or is unavailable is eligible for this leave. Under this act, an eligible employee may take up to 12 weeks of Emergency Family Medical Leave. The first 10 days of this leave may be unpaid, but the employee must be allowed to use accrued paid leave to receive pay during the first 10 days. The employee may use Federal Sick Leave, accrued company sick leave, vacation or any other accrued leave. An employee who has already taken 12 weeks of leave under the already existing Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) within the last 12 months is not eligible for an additional 12 weeks of Emergency Family Medical Leave. If an employee has taken less than 12 weeks under FMLA, this will accordingly reduce the Emergency Family Medical Leave to have the total of leaves in these two categories to be a maximum of 12 weeks.

Compensation under this act is paid at two-thirds the normal rate of pay, up to a maximum of $200 per day and an aggregate of $10,000. Two-thirds the normal federal, state or local minimum wage requirement may apply, if the amount is greater than the normal rate of pay.

The employee does not need to take these leaves in a single block of time or in whole days. This leave ends at the end of hour limit exhaustion or when the qualifying need ends. The Emergency Family Medical Leave expires on December 31, 2020, and the unused leaves in this category are not rolled over to the following year. You are not required to pay unused leaves in the Emergency Family Medical Leave category at the end of employment.

Leave taken under this act is taxed as normal income, except that the wages are exempt from the employer portion of the Social Security tax.