Congress Passes Legislation with Changes to FFCRA: What You Need to Know

With the most recent stimulus bill signed by President Trump, the sick and family leave component of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) has been extended.  The significant change is that this is now optional for private employers with less than 500 employees.  If an employer voluntarily decides to continue this paid sick and family leave, then the employer will continue to be eligible for the tax credit for these wages.

As an employer, what do these changes to FFCRA mean for your company?

• This change extends the timing from December 31, 2020 to March 31, 2021.
• It does not provide additional grants of hours to the employee.

So, if an employee has already used the hours and the employer has taken the credit in 2020, there is no additional paid time or tax credit available.

• If an employee has not utilized these hours, they now have until March 31, 2021 to do so.
• If you are a Mize payroll client, there is nothing additional you need to do to implement this. We have you covered and will extend this coverage until March 31st unless you direct us to discontinue it.  You will continue to use the special pay codes that we have set up and that are incorporated into your payroll and your payroll tax reporting.

As always, if you have questions about this change, please reach out to the Mize payroll team or your current Mize payroll processor.