[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 183 (Monday, September 21, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 59330-59331]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-20770]
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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Office of the Secretary
Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB
Review; Comment Request; Paid Leave Under the Families First
Coronavirus Response Act
ACTION: Notice of availability; request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The Department of Labor (DOL) is submitting this Wage and Hour
Division (WHD)-sponsored information collection request (ICR) to the
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and approval in
accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). Public
comments on the ICR are invited.
DATES: The OMB will consider all written comments that agency receives
on or before October 21, 2020.
ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function.
Comments are invited on: (1) Whether the collection of information
is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the
Department, including whether the information will have practical
utility; (2) if the information will be processed and used in a timely
manner; (3) the accuracy of the agency's estimates of the burden and
cost of the collection of information, including the validity of the
methodology and assumptions used; (4) ways to enhance the quality,
utility and clarity of the information collection; and (5) ways to
minimize the burden of the collection of information on those who are
to respond, including the use of automated collection techniques or
other forms of information technology.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Anthony May by telephone at 202-693-
4129 (this is not a toll-free number), or by email at
DOL_PRA_PUBLIC@dol.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On March 18, 2020, President Trump signed
into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which
creates two new emergency paid leave requirements in response to the
COVID-19 global pandemic. Division E of the FFCRA, ``The Emergency Paid
Sick Leave Act'' (EPSLA), entitles certain employees to take up to two
weeks of paid sick leave. Division C of the FFCRA, ``The Emergency
Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act'' (EFMLEA), which amends Title I
of the Family and Medical Leave Act, 29 U.S.C. 2601 et seq. (FMLA),
permits certain employees to take up to twelve weeks of expanded family
and medical leave, ten of which are paid, for specified reasons related
to COVID-19. On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, Public Law 116-136
(CARES Act), which amends certain provisions of the
[[Page 59331]]
EPSLA and the provisions of the FMLA added by the EFMLEA. In general,
the FFCRA requires covered employers to provide eligible employees up
to two weeks of paid sick leave at full pay, up to a specified cap,
when the employee is unable to work because the employee is subject to
a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order related to
COVID-19, has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine
due to concerns related to COVID-19, or is experiencing COVID-19
symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis. The FFCRA also provides up to
two weeks of paid sick leave at partial pay, up to a specified cap,
when an employee is unable to work because of a need to care for an
individual subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or
isolation order related to COVID-19 or who has been advised by a health
care provider to selfquarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19;
because of a need to care for the employee's son or daughter whose
school or place of care is closed, or whose child care provider is
unavailable, due to COVID-19 related reasons; or because the employee
is experiencing a substantially similar condition, as specified by the
Secretary of Health and Human Services. The FFCRA also requires covered
employers to provide up to twelve weeks of expanded family and medical
leave, up to ten weeks of which must be paid at partial pay, up to a
specified cap, when an eligible employee is unable to work because of a
need to care for the employee's son or daughter whose school or place
of care is closed, or whose child care provider is unavailable, due to
COVID-19 related reasons. The FFCRA covers private employers with fewer
than 500 employees and certain public employers. Small employers with
fewer than 50 employees may qualify for an exemption from the
requirement to provide paid leave due to school, place of care, or
child care provider closings or unavailability, if the leave payments
would jeopardize the viability of their business as a going concern.
Under the FFCRA, covered private employers qualify for reimbursement
through refundable tax credits, as administered by the Department of
the Treasury, for all qualifying paid sick leave wages and qualifying
family and medical leave wages paid to an employee who takes leave
under the FFCRA, up to per diem and aggregate caps, and for allocable
costs related to the maintenance of health care coverage under any
group health plan while the employee is on the leave provided under the
FFCRA. The CARES Act amended the FFCRA by providing certain technical
corrections, as well as clarifying the caps for payment of leave;
expanded family and medical leave to certain employees who were laid
off or terminated after March 1, 2020, but are reemployed by the same
employer prior to December 31, 2020; and provided authority to the
Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to exclude
certain federal employees from paid sick leave and expanded family and
medical leave. The FFCRA grants authority to the Secretary to issue
regulations for certain purposes. In particular, sections 3102(b), as
amended by section 3611(7) of the CARES Act, and 5111(3) of the FFCRA
grant the Secretary authority to issue regulations ``as necessary, to
carry out the purposes of this Act, including to ensure consistency''
between the EPSLA and the EFMLEA. The Department issued the temporary
rule to carry out the purposes of the FFCRA. For additional substantive
information about this ICR, see the related notice published in the
Federal Register on April 14, 2020 (85 FR 20723).
This information collection is subject to the PRA. A Federal agency
generally cannot conduct or sponsor a collection of information, and
the public is generally not required to respond to an information
collection, unless the OMB approves it and displays a currently valid
OMB Control Number. In addition, notwithstanding any other provisions
of law, no person shall generally be subject to penalty for failing to
comply with a collection of information that does not display a valid
OMB Control Number. See 5 CFR 1320.5(a) and 1320.6.
DOL seeks PRA authorization for this information collection for
three (3) years. OMB authorization for an ICR cannot be for more than
three (3) years without renewal. The DOL notes that information
collection requirements submitted to the OMB for existing ICRs receive
a month-to-month extension while they undergo review.
Agency: DOL-WHD.
Title of Collection: Paid Leave Under the Families First
Coronavirus Response Act.
OMB Control Number: 1235-0031.
Affected Public: Private Sector: Businesses or other for-profits,
farms, not-for-profit institutions.
Total Estimated Number of Respondents: 11,931,108.
Total Estimated Number of Responses: 11,931,108.
Total Estimated Annual Time Burden: 870,193 hours.
Total Estimated Annual Other Costs Burden: $0.
Authority: 44 U.S.C. 3507(a)(1)(D).
Dated: September 15, 2020.
Anthony May,
Management and Program Analyst.
[FR Doc. 2020-20770 Filed 9-18-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-27-P