DOL Issues Guidance On FFCRA And Summer School/Camp Closures

The summer season is normally a time the children are off to summer camps, enrichment programs, or summer school sessions. This year, however, employees are finding themselves without available childcare in the wake of continued widespread COVID-19-related closures. As state and local governments vacillate between easing and increasing restrictions, normal summer programs may be unavailable, or if open, may be operating at significantly reduced capacities.

As we previously reported, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act ("FFCRA"), enacted on April 1, 2020, requires covered employers to provide eligible employees with up to twelve weeks of childcare leave when the employee is unable to work or telework due to a need to care for a child whose place of care is closed due to COVID-19-related reasons. Now that the school year has concluded, the Department of Labor ("DOL") has issued a Field Assistance Bulletin, found here, clarifying how the FFCRA applies over the