On March 18, 2020, the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020” was signed, consisting of several statuses aimed at serving different facets of the state of emergency caused by COVID-19. Among others, a new sick-pay leave (COVID – SICK) was approved and the requirements and benefits of the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (COVID – FAMILY).
These leave apply to any employer with 500 employees or less and both exempted (employees) and non-exempt employees (per hour). On Friday, April 27, 2020, the Federal Labor Department published a Q&A section, where, among other things, I make it clear that such licenses ONLY applied to businesses that were “open” from April 1 onward and that one of its employees qualified for that benefit on the basis of the conditions it presented (there is a specific reason to activate such license). For more information, please contact Review 2020-02 of the Secretary of the Puerto Rico Department of Labor and Human Resources.
- COVID – SICK the employer may be forced to pay approximately the equivalent of 80 hours of work (2 weeks) up to a maximum of $5,110.
- COVID – FAMILY the employer may be required to pay approximately the equivalent of 10 additional weeks of work up to a maximum of $ 10,000. Employers with fewer than 50 employees can manage an exemption to avoid paying COVID – FAMILY.
On the other hand, these licences, if the employer in fact paid and the employee was entitled to them, the employer may apply for refund or credit to the Federal government. Instructions on how the refund or credit is requested are still pending to be issued. These leave have led to no different legal opinions. We suggest that before paying an employee, consult with your attorney.
alchavo.com recommends that you consult with your Labor Lawyer before using them.
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However, the system has already been updated with these two new Federal leave and we will show you how to access them in this tutorial. SEE TUTORIAL https://youtu.be/hp_vIJKPjDM
