Find details about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which protected employees who had been negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 epidemic has created situations where employees are not able to work because they tested positive for the virus or have been quarantined after coming in contact with someone who has tested positive. It has also caused parents to miss work because their children’s school has closed due to the outbreak and there is no one to watch the kids.

Under the Families First Act, enacted March 18, 2020, employers with fewer than 500 employees were required to provide COVID-related paid sick leave and child care leave benefits to their employees from April 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020. The employer paid the benefits to the employee and then was reimbursed by the government through a payroll tax credit, or directly if the amount to be reimbursed exceeded the payroll tax obligation.

Effective April 1, 2021, through September 30, 2021, the ARPA continues to allow government reimbursement of employers for the wages paid to their employees for qualified sick leave and childcare leave, even though the employers are no longer required to provide these benefits (IRC sections 3131 through 3133 as added by ARPA Section 9641).

IRS has announced that wages paid for leave taken to accompany an individual who is obtaining a COVID-19 vaccination or to care for an individual who is recovering from a vaccination may be considered qualified family leave wages for purposes of the qualified family leave wages credit; in addition, they may be considered qualified sick leave wages for purposes of the qualified sick leave wages credit. This rule applies to wages paid, and to self-employment income, with respect to leave taken from April 1, 2021, through September 30, 2021. (IR-2021-160)