While the right to emergency paid leave under FFCRA expired, the American Rescue Plan (ARP) signed into law March 11, 2021, expanded the use of FFCRA emergency paid leave credits for employers.
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan (ARP). While it does not reinstate the requirement that employers provide paid leave, it does extend and expand the tax credits to employers who choose to provide paid leave. The tax credits will cover the cost of certain COVID-19 related leave taken from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021, effectively “resetting the clock” on the emergency leave.
A tracker of compiled amended, expanded or newly passed paid sick laws in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, outlining the eligibility and details of each leave policy.
On March 18, 2020, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), providing some employees up to 10 paid sick days and up to 12 weeks of family leave (with 10 of the weeks paid), in addition to other critical measures. This was the first time Congress required federal paid leave for private sector workers—an important first step in ensuring workers earning low wages have access to these benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
For the first time, Congress granted millions of workers nationwide a right to federal emergency paid sick and family leave. However, recent polling indicates that Americans are largely unaware of these rights – and a staggering amount aren’t using them. We've compiled the key points on what workers should know about their new federal leave rights.
The COVID-19 pandemic is having devastating implications for workers earning low wages and their families. Learn more about CLASP's work in responding to COVID-19.
Due to systemic inequities in our health and economic systems, marginalized communities have experienced the most severe consequences from the COVID-19 pandemic. The climate crisis poses a similar threat to these communities with even greater implications.
This is a template fact sheet on the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (as amended by the CARES Act), and as interpreted by the U.S. Department of Labor. The fact sheet includes:
CLASP worked with our partners to send the U.S. Department of Labor this letter from over 100 organizations urging it to re-consider parts of its regulation that undermine the paid sick and paid leave provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). On March 18, 2020, Congress passed the FFCRA, providing some employees up to 10 paid sick days and up to 12 weeks of family leave (10 weeks paid), in addition to other critical measures.
