Pub 9 2020-2021 Issue 1

PUB YR 9 2020-2021 | ISSUE 1 21 THE BEGINNING OF THE END? WHAT SAN DIEGO DEALERS NEED TO KNOW FOR COVID-19 COMPLIANCE T he federal government, State of California and local jurisdictions have all adopted and modified laws relating to COVID-19 in the last several months to respond to the spike in COVID-19 cases in late 2020 and the availability of effective vaccinations. Now that the infection rate is dropping across the state and country and vaccines are available to a wider segment of the public, businesses and consumers are asking whether this is the beginning of the end of the pandemic. From a legal perspective, the answer is clear: not quite. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, though, and to push through to the hoped-for future, dealers in San Diego should be aware of current and pending laws that will continue to impose COVID-related duties on them. COVID-Related Leave Congress passed, and President Trump eventually signed a new spending bill, the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (“Spending Bill”), at the beginning of January 2021. The most important provision for California businesses is the modification of the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA). To give some background, this past spring, Congress passed the FFCRA, which applies to employers with fewer than 500 employees. The law includes two main provisions: Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSL) and Emergency FamilyMedical Leave (EFML). The EPSL provisionmandates that qualified employers provide up to twoweeks of paid sick leave (in addition to any state/local/other sick leave you provide) to qualified employees. The EFML provision expands FMLA job-protected leave to employees who have been employed for at least 30 days if they are unable to work (or telework) due to a need for leave to care for a child of such employee if the school or place of care has been closed, or the child care provider of the employee’s child is unavailable, due to a public health emergency. The Spending Bill modifies certain provisions of the FFCRA but did not extend EPSL mandated leave. Therefore, mandated leave under the FFCRA ended on Dec. 31, 2020. Instead, starting on Jan. 1, 2021, qualifying employers could voluntarily provide paid sick leave, relying on the same criteria established in the EPSLA. In return for providing emergency paid sick leave or emergency paid FMLA leave, employers will receive a tax credit. However, that tax credit is currently only applicable for leave through March 31, 2021. Continued on page 22