On June 26, 2020, the United States Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division (“DOJ WHD”) issued a Field Assistance Bulletin providing guidance with respect to the use of leave afforded by the Family First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) to care for children due to the closure, for COVID-19 related reasons, of summer camps, summer enrichment programs, and other summer programs (collectively, “summer programs”). Prior alerts detailing the provisions and requirements of the FFCRA are available here and here.
Employees are subject to the same disclosure requirements when requesting FFCRA leave related to summer program closures as were applied to leave related to school and daycare closures, including evidence of the parent’s plan for the child to attend the program but for its closure in response to COVID-19. Although DOL acknowledges the inability to utilize a one-size-fits-all rule under these circumstances, the Field Assistance Bulletin provides examples of the numerous ways in which an employee may satisfy the requirement to establish (1) a plan to send his or her child to a summer camp or program, or (2) that even though the employee had no such plan at the time the summer camp or program closed due to COVID-19, his or her child would have nevertheless attended the camp or program. Employers are advised to review the Bulletin for specific examples of ways in which employees may establish that a summer program was their child’s planned place of care during the summer. Previous guidance regarding closed summer camps or programs being considered the place of care for an employee’s child can be found here (FAQ 93).
Please contact us if you have any questions regarding this Alert or would like to discuss this topic further.
The contents of this Alert are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. If you have any questions about this Alert, please contact the Shulman Rogers attorney with whom you regularly work or a member of the Shulman Rogers Employment and Labor Law Group.
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