The federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), as the law was passed in March 2020, was not fully extended past December 31, 2020. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and the GOP blocked this effort.
Instead of extending the FFCRA, Congress decided to only include paid leave tax credits for businesses with no guarantees of paid leave for workers. The lack of paid leave in the new bill is a blow to workers who have been struggling to make ends meet and to stay safe during this pandemic. See more details below.
The new federal COVID-19 pandemic relief provides an additional $1.8 billion through March 2021 for employers to continue to be reimbursed when they allow their employees to take paid leave for the reasons allowed under the FFCRA. This continues the paid leave tax credits for employers that existed under the FFCRA without providing workers with the actual right to take paid leave. This means, workers have to rely on their employers choosing to allow them to take the leave. See some more from experts on the law here, and read more further below.
The NJ Time to Care Coalition and our network leader, Family Values @ Work, will not stop calling on our Congress members and Congressional leadership to raise the bar on workers’ rights in this country and we will demand that Congress try again for more next year. Sign up to join the movement for paid leave for all!
The Coalition is also working to see what we can do at the state level to support New Jersey workers and families right now.
Congress’s pandemic relief package has some benefits that we do not discuss at length here. Businesses CAN benefit from paying their workers for taking covered leave and accessing the federal tax credits, but we cannot ignore how weak this measure is and we must work harder to ensure workers’ rights and paid leave during a pandemic AND permanently.
We know that many of you called your reps, sent emails, and took to Twitter to advocate for the extension of FFCRA. Thank you so much. Your advocacy mattered, and it helped push Congress to keep some form of paid leave in this relief package. Your voice has more power than you know.
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HERE’S SOME SPECIFIC INFORMATION ON WHAT THIS NEW BILL MEANS FOR YOU:
Congress agreed to provide $1.8 billion in tax credits to businesses to support employers offering paid sick leave, based on the Families First framework. This means that if an employer offers you paid sick leave due to a *COVID-related reason, that employer can file for reimbursement through this tax credit program.
*COVID-related reasons include:
You have COVID-19 or you need to take leave to get tested or quarantine due to exposure (you can get your regular rate of pay in this instance, up to $511 per day).
You have to take time off work to care for a family member who has COVID-19 (you can only get ⅔ of your pay in this instance, up to $200 per day).
You have to take time off work to care for a child due to childcare or school closure (you can only get ⅔ of your pay in this instance, up to $200 per day).
The important thing for workers to know is that this new law puts the employer in control of whether or not you can get paid sick leave.
What actions you can take:
If you need to take leave, ask your employer. Encourage them to tap into the federal budget of $1.8 billion in order to fund your COVID related leave.
Also know that New Jersey has both a Temporary Disability Insurance Program and a Paid Family Leave Program; and job protection under the Family Leave Act (see #5 below). Know your Rights and reach out for assistance to advocate for your rights.
If you are diagnosed with COVID-19 or ordered to quarantine, you can apply for Temporary Disability Insurance through myleavebenefits.nj.gov to take paid leave to care for your own illness. The one week waiting period for TDI has been waived for reasons related to COVID.
If you have a family member with COVID-19 (or ordered to quarantine) and you need to care for them, you can apply for Family Leave Insurance also through myleavebenefits.nj.gov and you can take paid leave to care for your loved one.
The NJ Family Leave Act protects your job for 12 weeks of taking leave if you work at a business with 30 or more employees, have been at the business for at least a year, and have worked at least 1,000 hours in the year prior to your leave — now, any time up to 90 calendar days during the COVID-19 furlough or time of unemployment can be counted as time in which you were employed. To calculate the “hours worked” per week during the COVID-19 furlough or unemployment, use the average number of hours you worked per week during the rest of the 12-month period, see more here.
Federal Unemployment benefits have been extended in Congress’s recent pandemic relief package, we are awaiting more details but Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) can provide you with unemployment benefits until 3/14/21 for covered COVID reasons including needing to care for a child who is unable to attend in-person school or whose childcare is otherwise unavailable because of COVID. You do not have to resign or quite your job to apply for PUA, in fact your job may be protected under FLA (see #5 above). Learn more about how to apply for PUA here.