On this episode of the Savvy Parent Podcast, we’re joined by Sarah Martin, Associate Attorney for Kalijarvi, Chuzi, Newman & Fitch. An employment attorney in Washington DC, Sarah joins us to help you understand your legal rights at work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lawyer and co-host, Shannon McNulty, wants to make sure parents know about their rights in the workplace as we continue to live through these unprecedented times.
As we’re entering the school year at the time of recording, parents are being asked to juggle a lot and Sarah shares her expertise around what parents will want to understand about the law and their rights.
Your Job Protection
Sarah and Shannon know this is a hard time for parents and Sarah shares information about the legal protections for parents, including 12-weeks of job-protected leave through the Families First Coronavirus Response Act or FMLA* (Please see further details below and check with your employer and state for specific details).
In addition to discussing general legal considerations, we talk a lot about the challenges that working parents are facing during the pandemic. Unfortunately, there are not that many legal protections at the federal level for parents facing tough choices with the oncoming school year and a return to the office.
Safety in the Workplace
Sarah also gives insight into safety in the workplace, as that’s a big concern for anyone heading back to work. She talks about preexisting conditions, reasonable accommodations, and some general thoughts on what to do if safety is not being maintained at your work. She also shares about the COVID-19 hazard pay class action lawsuit that her firm has taken on, on behalf of all federal employees.
Resources mentioned
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* The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) guarantees covered employees up to twelve weeks of job-protected leave to receive treatment due to, or to care for an immediate family member with, a serious medical condition (including a COVID-19 infection). The FMLA only applies to employers who employ at least 50 employees and does not require employers to pay their employees during the leave. Further, employees must be employed for one year before they are eligible for the job-protected leave.
In March, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). This law included the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA), which requires employers to provide up to twelve weeks of leave (up to ten weeks of which must be paid at two-thirds pay, up to a specified cap) to eligible employees who are unable to work because the employee is caring for his or her son or daughter whose school or place of care is closed or whose child care provider is unavailable due to COVID-19. The EFMLEA applies to different sets of employers and employees from the other provisions of the FMLA. The EFMLEA covers private employers with fewer than 500 employees and certain public employers. Additionally, small employers with fewer than 50 employees may qualify for an exemption. The EFMLEA applies to employees of covered employers regardless of how long an employee has worked for an employer, except that employers may exclude employees who are health care providers or emergency responders from taking paid sick leave. Leave under the EFMLEA is only available until December 31, 2020.
Section 826.23 of Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations provides, “[a]ny time period of Expanded Family and Medical Leave that an Eligible Employee takes counts towards the twelve workweeks of FMLA leave to which the Eligible Employee is entitled for any qualifying reason in a twelve-month period.” Additionally, “f an Eligible Employee has already taken the full twelve workweeks of FMLA leave during the twelve-month period, the Eligible Employee may not take Expanded Family and Medical Leave.” 29 C.F.R. § 826.70.
The regulations provide the following example that think I may be of interest to your expectant parent listeners: “if an Eligible Employee used his or her full FMLA leave entitlement for birth and bonding with a newborn, he or she would still be entitled to take Paid Sick Leave (for any covered reason), but could not take Expanded Family and Medical Leave in the same twelve-month period if his or her child’s day care closed due to COVID-19 related reasons.” 29 C.F.R. § 826.70.
About the Author
