On Friday, we replayed our March 23 webinar covering various topics including the American Rescue Plan’s renewal of FFCRA benefits and California’s brand new COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (SB 95). In both the original run and the replay, we got tons of great questions from employers about these two new laws. Below are answers to a few of the most common questions we get.

If an employee took paid leave in 2020 under the FFCRA, do I have to provide them new paid leave in 2021?

Yes and no. Whereas FFCRA paid sick and family leave was mandatory for covered employers last year, the renewed FFCRA for 2021 is optional. Eligible employers can elect to make FFCRA leave available to employees, but are not required to do so. Because California employers have corresponding mandatory leave obligations under California law (including COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick leave and Cal/OSHA exclusion pay), California employers may prefer to provide FFCRA leave in order to take advantage of the payroll tax credits available exclusively under the federal law.

If an employer does elect to make FFCRA leave available to employees, then the amount of leave available resets from 2020. So, employees who used any or all of their 2020 FFCRA leave would be entitled to new leave for 2021. Employees who did not use all of their 2020 FFCRA leave cannot carry it over into 2021 (except to the extent they were on a qualifying leave that started in 2020 and carried over into 2021).

If an employee was out of work in January or February 2021 for reasons that would qualify under the Supplemental Paid Sick Leave, do I have to go back and pay them for that time?

Yes…but only if they ask for it. SB 95, the law enacting COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave, went into effect on March 29, 2021, but the paid leave is available for qualifying leaves retroactive to January 1, 2021.

That does not mean the employer has to unilaterally make retroactive payments. Rather, an employer’s obligation to make retroactive payments arises only if the employee makes an oral or written request. Once the employee makes the request, the employer has to make the retroactive payment on or before the payday for the next full pay period after the request.

Is the employee required to provide documentation to support COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave eligibility?

No, says the Labor Commissioner. An employee is entitled to leave upon oral or written request, and an employer cannot condition leave or payment on medical certification or other documentation. On the other hand, if the employer has information indicating an employee was not truthful about the qualifying reason for the leave—e.g., “Bill says he needed to quarantine last week, but his social media account has pictures of him at the beach every day.”—then an employer could request documentation. (It’s always best to get legal counsel to advise on such issues.)

I paid an employee exclusion pay under Cal/OSHA back in February. Can I get any COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave credit for that? If the employee requests CV-19 SPSL for that time, do I have to pay them twice?

You do not have to pay them twice. You can potentially claim a credit for that pay, but you have to act fast. For any qualifying leave taken in 2021 for which the employee was provided paid leave—for example, as Cal/OSHA exclusion pay or as a voluntary benefit, excluding vacation—the employer can credit that leave against the employee’s available COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave, provided the leave was for a qualifying reason and either the employee was paid the applicable rate of pay or the employer makes a retroactive catch-up payment.

However, keep in mind that the employer is also obligated to advise each employee of the amount of available supplemental paid sick leave, either on a wage statement or a separate written notice provided on payday. So, to claim retroactive credit for any paid leave provided earlier this year, the employer probably needs to calculate that credit now so that the available leave reported to the employee reflects this deduction. In other words, you should not wait for the employee to take leave in the future before calculating any credit you intend to claim.