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Human Resources

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Just had our 1st employee that has been in direct contact with a family member that tested positive for COVID-19. She is having trouble getting into the free testing sites and states she is going to just self-quarantine for the 14 days. She has no symptoms at this point. We have offered her to work remotely (which she did for several weeks before returning to the office) but now states due to circumstances (no internet) she can’t work from home. Can we have her use her PTO for the 10 days of work missed or does she qualify for the EPSL pay as long as she completes the Request Form for Emergency Paid Sick Leave? Or do we need other documentation? I was holding out for doctor or testing documentation to give the EPSL. She is willing to use her PTO but I want to do the right thing, too.

With this one we must look at the actual law.

Qualifying Reasons for Leave: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-employee-paid-leave

Under the FFCRA, an employee qualifies for paid sick time if the employee is unable to work (or unable to telework) due to a need for leave because the employee:

  1. is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19;
  2. has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine related to COVID-19;
  3. is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis;
  4. is caring for an individual subject to an order described in (1) or self-quarantine as described in (2);
  5. is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed (or child care provider is unavailable) for reasons related to COVID-19; or
  6. is experiencing any other substantially-similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of Labor and Treasury.

You can see that none of the 6 reasons apply to her. She is not having symptoms, does not plan to seek a medical diagnosis, and has not been told to quarantine by a Dr or government agency. She may use her PTO in this case because as of today, she does not qualify under FFCRA.

Tags: FFCRA

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