USDOL Releases Updated Guidance and Mandatory Employee Notice Poster for Families First Coronavirus Response Act

By Rosemary Gill Kenyon, Jenny Bobbitt and Travis Hockaday

While the U.S. Department of Labor (“USDOL”) works on regulations to implement the expanded Family and Medical Leave Act (“expanded FMLA”) and paid sick leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “FFCRA”), it continues to update its guidance for employers. The most up-to-date questions and answers from USDOL may be found here. The FFCRA goes into effect on April 1, 2020 and is summarized in detail in our prior update. 

USDOL also has released a poster that covered employers must post or provide to employees to inform them of their rights under the FFCRA. 

All employers covered by the expanded FMLA and paid sick leave provisions of the FFCRA (generally, certain public sector employers and private sector employers with fewer than 500 employees), must post and keep displayed the USDOL-issued poster in a conspicuous place on the employer’s premises where notices to employees are customarily posted. According to USDOL’s Frequently Asked Questions about the poster, employers may satisfy this requirement by displaying the poster on an internal or external website used to disseminate employee information or by distributing it via email or direct mail to employees. USDOL advises that the poster is not required to be displayed or disseminated in multiple languages (although USDOL is working now to translate it into other languages), nor is it required to be shared with recently laid-off employees or job applicants. However, employers must convey the poster to new hires using one of the three permitted methods mentioned above. 

We will provide further updates and guidance as appropriate on employment issues arising from the COVID-19 crisis. In the meantime, please feel free to reach out to anyone on our Employment, Labor and Human Resources team if you have any questions or want to discuss specific circumstances you are facing.  

Please See Smith Anderson’s Prior Employment Law Updates on COVID-19 Available in our Coronavirus Business Resources Center:

• Coronavirus ("COVID-19"): Employer Guidance and Strategies, March 9, 2020
• COVID-19 Update: Governor Cooper Issues Guidance for NC Employers, March 10, 2020
• COVID-19 Update for Employers: Congress Passes Emergency Employment Legislation; Governor Cooper Issues Executive Order on Unemployment Benefits, March 19, 2020
• Tax Provisions under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, March 24, 2020