The Department of Labor recently revised some of its temporary regulations on the sick leave and family leave provisions of the FFCRA, a COVID-19 relief bill passed in March, in response to an early August decision by a federal judge in New York disallowing several provisions of the regulations.
According to the Labor Department, the revisions:
(1) reaffirmed the requirement that employees may take leave only if work is available to them, (2) reaffirmed the requirement that employees have their employer’s permission in order to take intermittent leave, (3) revised [and narrowed – AN] the definition of an employee who is a “health care provider” who can be denied leave by an employer, and (4) clarified that an employee taking leave must provide documentation supporting the need for leave “as soon as practicable.”
Continued litigation is quite possible, as the Department did not accede to all of the judge’s concerns about the regulations, particularly as to points (1) and (2). Stay tuned!