General Leave & Accommodation Issues

Effective April 1, 2020, an employee who “has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19” is entitled to up to 80 hours of Paid Emergency Sick Leave under the recently adopted Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). This new leave is discussed in more detail below.

The law currently does not require an employer to provide leave to an employee based solely on the person’s age. Unless the employee is entitled to Paid Emergency Sick Leave after April 1, 2020, employees who seek to remain home from work because they believe their age is a risk factor are not legally entitled to any leave beyond the paid or unpaid leave that was otherwise available to them before the COVID-19 pandemic.

As noted above, effective April 1, 2020, an employee who “has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19” is entitled to up to 80 hours of Paid Emergency Sick Leave under the recently adopted FFCRA.

We may impose discipline, up to and including immediate termination, if an employee refuses to report for duty and is not entitled to leave under the employee’s terms and conditions of employment or an applicable law. The new leaves discussed do not allow an employee to refuse to work simply because the employee is afraid of falling ill with COVID- 19. The same consequences for unexcused absences apply in this pandemic situation.