The Department of Labor has just issued its regulations to implement the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The rules and the preamble total 124 pages and we are in the process of analyzing those. We will be sending additional guidance out in the next day or so.
In the meantime, one question we have received regularly in the last few days is whether the various stay-at-home or safer-at-home orders constitute quarantine orders for purposes of the Emergency Paid Sick Leave benefit (providing up to 80 hours of pay for full-time employees). There hadn’t been a clear cut answer to that question as Florida law defines “quarantine” and “isolation” orders very narrowly, but the signals from the federal and state government suggest that it would constitute a qualifying reason for the EPSL benefit. We now have guidance on the issue from the DOL. The regulations make it clear that leave needed to comply with these orders, such as the Governor’s order issued today, does indeed qualify as a reason to take leave under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (specifically, Reason #1 – “The employee is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19”). In that respect, the DOL has defined quarantine/isolation very broadly as follows:
“Subject to a Quarantine or Isolation Order. For the purposes of the EPSLA, a quarantine or isolation order includes quarantine, isolation, containment, shelter-in-place, or stay-at-home orders issued by any Federal, State, or local government authority that cause the Employee to be unable to work even though his or her Employer has work that the Employee could perform but for the order. This also includes when a Federal, State, or local government authority has advised categories of citizens (e.g., of certain age ranges or of certain medical conditions) to shelter in place, stay at home, isolate, or quarantine, causing those categories of Employees to be unable to work even though their Employers have work for them.” 29 C.F.R. 826.10.”
As such, unless the employee is an excluded health care provider or emergency responder or unless the employee can telework, he or she will be entitled to the Emergency Paid Sick Leave benefit for leave to comply with the state and local executive orders.