[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 
[email protected].

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