Daycare Still Closed for the Summer? Consider Leave Options under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act

As many summer camps and daycare facilities announce their continued closures during summer months, working parents and guardians may find relief from the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Act).

The Act extends family and medical leave benefits for eligible employees who are caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed (or child care provider is unavailable) for reasons related to COVID-19 and are unable to telework. All full-time employees of employers with less than 500 employees are eligible for up to 12 weeks of leave at 40 hours a week and part-time employees are eligible for leave for the same number of hours that the employee is normally scheduled to work over the same period.

Employees who take leave for this reason are entitled to pay. Over the course of the leave, employees are entitled to pay at 2/3 their regular rate or 2/3 the applicable minimum wage, whichever is higher, up to a maximum of $200 per day or $12,000 total over a 12-week period.

The benefits provided by the Act are set to last through December 31, 2020. For more information on the Act and details on the leave provisions, reference our earlier LR What You Need to Know update here.