New relief deal does not mandate paid sick or family leave for Covid-19

Employers will no longer be required to offer two weeks of paid leave to workers who become ill with Covid-19, or up to 12 weeks of family leave to people who cannot work due to childcare needs, in accordance with the $ 900 billion bailout legislation passed by Congress this week.

The paid leave term extension, originally established in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of March, was blocked by the latest stimulus deal following opposition from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.

The FFCRA came into effect in April and grants two weeks of full pay to certain workers who contract the coronavirus or who are referred by a health authority to quarantine. It also provides two weeks of partially paid leave for an employee to care for a sick household member or child while schools and daycares are closed. The law further provides for an additional 10 weeks of partially paid family leave to care for a child while schools and care facilities are closed.

The offer is limited, however, and does not apply to businesses with 500 or more workers – which employ more than half of all workers – or to small businesses with fewer than 50 people who can claim hardship as an exemption. Some health care providers and emergency responders are not eligible for paid leave.

The provisions of the FFCRA will expire on December 31 without a federal extension.

The latest stimulus bill does not extend sick leave or family leave terms, ending next week, forcing eligible employers to grant paid leave to eligible employees. However, as drafted, the bill maintains a refundable tax credit to subsidize the cost of businesses if they grant paid leave until March 31, 2021. This means that on January 1, 2021, the federal government will continue to pay for employers. paid time off to workers, but it’s up to employers to provide it first.

The change could impact 87 million workers eligible for paid sick and family leave under the law.

The United States is the only one of 22 wealthy countries in the world that does not have a federal mandate for paid sick leave, according to data from The Center for Economic Policy and Research.

Some states, cities and employers offer their own forms of paid sick leave, but without a national standard, about 24% of U.S. civilian workers, or 33.6 million people, lack a safety net, according to the Pew Research Center .

Low-income, part-time workers are less likely to have access to paid sick leave, and therefore more likely to have to choose between staying home if they are sick and earning a crucial paycheck to cover essential expenses.

But paying people to stay at home can minimize the spread of the disease. An October university study found that paying for emergency sick leave helped flatten the curve in the United States and prevent up to 15,000 cases of the virus a day. Additionally, he found that while the FFCRA was to cost $ 105 billion throughout the year, companies had only claimed $ 1.3 billion in tax credits by the end of October. .

For parents, the lack of paid family leave could have lasting consequences, as continued outbreaks of the virus have closed schools and daycares this winter. At the start of the school year, 73% of parents planned to make major changes in their professional life to cope with the lack of childcare, according to an August Care.com survey of 1,000 parents of children under 15. 15% of these parents have considered leaving the labor market completely.

The paid vacation policy has been a sticking point in months of negotiations in Congress to send financial aid to Americans during the pandemic.

According to BuzzFeed News, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, delayed reaching a deal on Saturday because the text did not include an extension of the paid leave term; Sunday, she agreed that the tax credit alone be included.

President Donald Trump was expected to sign the bill quickly this week to avoid a government shutdown and the expiration of crucial pandemic lifelines for millions of Americans. In a tweet Tuesday night, however, he called the Covid relief bill unsuitable and called on Congress to increase stimulus payments from $ 600 per person to $ 2,000 per person, among other changes in the aid agreement.

Soon after, Pelosi answered in agreement with his call for direct payments of $ 2,000. House Democrats, who hold a majority in the House, will look to see if they can pass a measure to increase payments by unanimous consent on Thursday, Christmas Eve, according to a senior Democratic aide as the CNBC reported.

Developments are underway.

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