HR Insights Blog HeaderIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, day cares and schools shut their doors. Months later, child care centers remain closed in many parts of the country, which means that parents are tasked with juggling caregiving and work responsibilities.

In fact, according to a survey from Boston Consulting Group (BCG), 60% of U.S. parents report that they’ve had no outside help with child care during the pandemic.

HR Insights Blog HeaderIn response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, states have passed new laws and issued new regulations and guidance about employee leave taken for COVID-19 reasons.

These provisions are in addition to the federal Emergency Paid Sick Leave and Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion requirements passed on March 18 as part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

Legal Update HeaderOn July 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced the agency’s publication of additional guidance on applying federal employment laws in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The guidance is in the form of questions and answers added to sets of Q&As the agency issued earlier in the year about the operation of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) in workplace situations involving COVID-19.

Legal Update HeaderThe U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is seeking information from the public about the effectiveness of paid employee family and medical leave.

In a Request for Information (RFI) issued July 15, 2020, the DOL said it intends to gather information about the effectiveness of current state-and employer-provided paid leave programs, and how access or lack of access to these programs impacts workers and their families. The RFI explains that “paid leave programs” for its purposes refers to paid family and medical leave to care for a family member’s, or for one’s own, health.

Legal Update HeaderEmployers are required to report the amount of qualified sick and family leave wages paid to employees under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) on Form W-2, according to guidance from the IRS and the U.S. Treasury Department. The guidance was provided in Notice 2020-54, issued by the agencies on July 8, 2020.

Reporting FFCRA Compensation on the W-2

Employers will be required to report FFCRA leave compensation in either Box 14 of Form W-2, or in a statement provided with the Form W-2.