U.S. Department of Labor issued the following announcement on Oct. 5.
Garden Escapes LLC – a Panama City, Florida-based landscaping company – has paid $1,200 in back wages after wrongly denying emergency paid sick leave to an employee who self-quarantined after receiving a coronavirus diagnosis.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) found that Garden Escapes violated Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) when the employer denied the paid sick leave. After WHD contacted Garden Escapes, the employer agreed to pay the back wages and comply with the FFCRA’s requirements in the future.
“The U.S. Department of Labor is protecting the American workforce during the coronavirus pandemic by ensuring employers comply with all of the requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act,” said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Juan Coria in Atlanta, Georgia. “The Wage and Hour Division encourages employers to use the multiple tools we offer to gain a clear understanding of their responsibilities under this new law, and avoid violations.”
The FFCRA helps the U.S. combat and defeat the workplace effects of the coronavirus by giving tax credits to American businesses with fewer than 500 employees either to provide employees with paid leave for the employee’s own health needs or to care for family members. Please visit WHD’s “Quick Benefits Tips” for information about how much leave workers may qualify to use, and the wages employers must pay. The law enables employers to provide paid leave reimbursed by tax credits, while at the same time ensuring that workers are not forced to choose between their paychecks and the public health measures needed to combat the virus.
Original source can be found here.