No Right to Paid Leave in Relief Bill from Congress
FFCRA, as the law is currently written, was not extended past December 31, 2020. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and the GOP blocked this effort. Instead of extending FFCRA, they 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.
The recently passed bill 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 allowing them to take the leave.
The Coalition and our network leader, Family Values @ Work, will not stop putting pressure on Congressional leadership to raise the bar on workers’ rights in this country. Strengthening our state and national paid leave policies will continue to be our priority as we usher in the Biden administration in 2021.
The Coalition is also working with other organizations, activists, and California legislators to see what we can do at the state level to support our workers and families in California right now.
A special thanks to our paid leave champions in Congress, most especially Speaker Pelosi, Senator Schumer, Representative DeLauro, and Senators Gillibrand and Murray, who fought for paid leave to be included in this package.
We know this bill from Congress is disheartening and confusing. Weakening workers rights and paid leave policy during a pandemic is the opposite of what we need. We know that many of you called your reps, sent emails, and took to Twitter to advocate for the extension of FFCRA. So many of you took action during a month which, for most of you, has been one of the most stressful of your lives. 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.
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 Californians should know:
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 paid sick leave.
Also know that California has both a Disability Insurance Program and a Paid Family Leave Program; and job protection for both programs is being expanded on January 1, 2021.
If you are diagnosed with COVID-19, you can apply for Disability Insurance through edd.ca.gov to take paid leave to care for your own illness.
If you have a family member with COVID-19, you can apply for Paid Family Leave for Caregiving through edd.ca.gov, and you can take paid leave to care for your family member.
If you work at a business with 5 or more employees, have been at the business for at least a year, and have worked at least 1,250 hours in the year prior to your leave, your job will be protected as you take Disability leave or Paid Family Leave, starting January 1, 2021.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at info@workfamilyca.org, or call our legal partners, Legal Aid at Work, at 800-880-8047 (in California) and 415-593-0033 (outside of California).
