SCHAUMBURG – Technology & Manufacturing Association’s President Steve Rauschenberger (a former Illinois state senator) scoured the Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed by Congress last week and distributed the following to the association’s members Wednesday am (3/25/2020):
Dear TMA Member,
Below is an attempt to provide an explanation of H. R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed by Congress. Please find attached the Congressional summary of HR 6201 (HERE), a published analysis from McDermott Will & Emery (HERE), and the actual Act of Congress (HERE).
In plain language:
- This bill applies to TMA members with less than 500 employees.
- The effective date of these benefits is April 2, 2020 & these benefits expire on 12/31/2020.
- These new benefits are in addition to any benefits you already offer and are intended to precede them.
- The costs of these benefits are recoverable by the TMA member through a tax credit against your payroll withholding and taxes. Rules for claiming are expected in the next couple of weeks.
TMA is extending their membership e-mail notices to others outside the association for free during the COVID-19 crisis. For more information, write info@tmaillinois.org .
Every employee, regardless of how long they have been with a member company, full and part time is entitled to 80 hours if full-time, or their average hours over 2 weeks for part time, of paid sick leave at their regular hourly rate of additional paid sick leave if:
(1) The employee is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID–19.
(2) The employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID–19.
(3) The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID–19 and seeking a medical diagnosis. Sick pay claimed for the above three purposes are capped at $511.00/day and in total at $5,110.00 in total. Employees may also take this additional paid leave to care for a family member with the virus, or care for a child whose school has closed or whose child care provider is unavailable due to the virus. If claimed for these purposes, employees will be paid at 2/3rds their regular pay rate and the benefit is capped at $200.00/day for a total of $2,000.00. This new sick pay is not PTO, it only applies while the employee is being tested for, under care for, or medically quarantined related to COVID-19, unless the employee claims the sick days at 2/3rds pay to care for a family member with COVID-19 or to care for a child whose school has closed or whose child care provider is unavailable due to the virus. In addition to this new 2 weeks of paid sick leave, all employees who have been with the company more than 30 days are entitled to claim up to 12 weeks of FMLA at 2/3rds pay beginning in week 3 (in theory, the first 2 weeks will be covered by the new sick days benefit) if they are caring for a child whose school has closed or whose child care provider is unavailable due to the virus. This benefit is capped at $200.00/day, and a maximum benefit of $10,000.00.The Secretary of Labor will be providing a notice members may post in their facilities.
Steve Rauschenberger
TMA President
TMA is extending their membership e-mail notices to others outside the association for free during the COVID-19 crisis. For more information, write info@tmaillinois.org or visit website at www.tmaillinois.org.
