The DOL has added nine additional questions and answers (Questions 80-88) to their guidance related to leaves taken under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Among other things, the new guidance provides clarification on the following issues:

*To calculate the available paid sick leave hours for an employee who works irregular hours, the employer would determine the average number of hours the employee was scheduled to work each calendar day in the prior six-month period. To calculate the available expanded FMLA leave for an employee who works irregular hours, the employer would use the average number of hours the employee was scheduled to work each workday (not calendar day).
*When determining an employee’s rate of pay for FFCRA leave purposes, the employer would look at the employee’s average rate for the prior six month period. The employer would include only hours worked, not leave hours. Any period of zero hours worked would be disregarded for the purpose of calculating the employee’s regular rate of pay.
*An employer may not require an employee to use employer provided paid leave (such as vacation, personal time or PTO) concurrently with emergency paid sick leave under the FFCRA. However, an employer may require that an employee use any available accrued paid leave provided by the employer concurrently with expanded FMLA leave. The employee could receive 100% pay under this scenario, but the employer would only receive a tax credit for 2/3 of the employee’s normal wages up to $200 daily maximum.

As the DOL and IRS continue to update their FFCRA-related guidance, NFP’s Benefits Compliance Team will provide you with developments in future editions of Compliance Corner, webinars and the Insights from the Experts podcast.

DOL FFCRA Q&A »

Source: NFP BenefitsPartners