Emergency Family and Medical Leave of Absence
Last modified 6/18/2020 8:15:09 AM EST | Added by Paywow Team

The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Act is an expansion of FMLA that applies to employers with less than 500 employees. 

Under this act, the employees will not be paid for the first 10 days, and for the next 10 weeks, they will be paid 2/3rd of their regular pay if their daycare has been closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Who can qualify for emergency leaves?

Employees can qualify for the Emergency FMLA leave if they are employed for at least 30 calendar days and are unable to work because of the need to take care of their child whose daycare is not operational because of COVID-19. 

Exclusions: Businesses with less than 50 employees can be exempted from this act if providing the emergency leave can affect their viability of the business.  

How is the pay calculated?

There is a waiting period for new hires, and they can qualify for the FMLA act only after 30 days of employment. 

The first 10 days are unpaid, and after that, employees who take an additional 10 weeks of leave must be paid 2/3rds of their regular wage rate up to $200 per day or an average of $10,000.

Will employers have tax credits?

Yes, employers will receive a tax credit to cover up the wages paid to the employees, which will be applied to the employer's Social Security taxes.

Businesses will receive a maximum tax credit of $200 per day and $10000/employee during this pandemic. 

In case the credit amount exceeds the social security liabilities, then the amount will be refunded after the completion of the quarter. 

How to add time off for employees?

Employees will be able to request time off according to this policy through myPayWow. Also, employers while running payroll can add time off manually in step 2 on their employees’ behalf. Please note that to add time off, time off policy must have been created and employees must have been enrolled in the policy.