It has only been a little over ten days since Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA), and legal compliance concerns are already upon us. 

Last Thursday, March 26, 2020, the federal Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division released a new model notice that employers must use to satisfy FFCRA’s employee notice obligations.  A copy of the DOL’s notice for all eligible non-federal employees is available here.  By April 1, 2020 – the FFCRA’s effective date – the DOL’s notice must be posted and disseminated to teleworking employees as described below.

In addition to the model notice, the DOL also issued a Frequently Asked Questions guidance page that answers various questions about FFCRA notice requirements.  The DOL’s FAQ page can be found here.

Importantly, the DOL’s FAQ guidance page advises that employers that have most of their workforce teleworking in response to the Coronavirus outbreak may satisfy their employee notice obligations under the FFCRA by “emailing or direct mailing this notice to employees, or posting this notice on an employee information internal or external website.”  This employee notice obligation appears to be in addition to the requirement that employers physically post copies of the notice in conspicuous places at their premises (i.e. bulletin boards in employee lunchrooms, breakrooms, etc.).  Accordingly, in light of the DOL’s guidance employers should take steps to ensure that teleworking employees are emailed or mailed the DOL notice and also receive or can readily access the DOL FFCRA notice through an employee intranet site or its equivalent or post on the company website.

FFCRA Background

We previously summarized the provisions of the FFCRA in detail in a March 19, 2020 client Alert .  Under the FFCRA, most private employers with fewer than 500 employees and many government employers (boards of education, municipalities, etc.), must provide emergency paid sick leave and expanded Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) benefits to various classes of employees directly or indirectly impacted by the Coronavirus outbreak.  The law goes into effect April 1, 2020.

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