What You Need to Know About the Families First Coronavirus Act
What You Need to Know About the H.R.6201 – Families First Coronavirus Response Act
- Congress recently passed The Families First Coronavirus Response Act. It was signed into law by President Trump on March 18, 2020.
- The law takes effect April 2, 2020, and will remain in effect until December 31, 2020.
- Relief measures offered in the act include changes to the Emergency Paid Sick Leave and expanded FMLA provisions.
- The Act could potentially affect endodontists and their patients.
- The three areas of the Act that may affect endodontic practices the most are:
- Emergency paid sick leave
- Emergency expansion of family and medical leave
- Tax credits
- These measures currently apply to employers with 500 employees or less.
- As stated by the ADA, the sick leave provisions of the Act provide that, under certain circumstances, endodontists and other dental owners could be required to pay two weeks of sick leave to employees. These circumstances include if the employee…
- is subject to a federal, state or local quarantine or isolation order.
- has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine.
- is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis.
- is caring for an individual to which points 1 or 2 apply.
- is caring for a child if the child’s school or place of care has been closed;
- is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the secretaries of Labor and the Treasury.
- The AAE is actively monitoring legislative developments and will continue to provide its members and the patients they treat timely and relevant updates.