Congress passed the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act” on March 18. It adds 80 hours of paid sick leave for employers at companies with fewer than 500 workers. The sick leave is for workers who have Covid-19 or are caring for someone who does. The amount of added leave has caused concern for some staffing firms despite tax credits included in the law. On the other hand, questions are still to be answered on how compliance directives will cover the new law’s application.

Further clarification on the law is expected from the US Department of Labor before April 2.

Neil M. Alexander, shareholder at law firm Littler Mendelson, said most midsize to larger staffing firms aren’t going to be impacted. However, there are questions over how the 500-employee number will be calculated.

Alexander said some business owners with multiple staffing companies are looking at how ownership can be combined so they are above the 500-worker threshold.

There’s also the question of how many workers would qualify for paid sick leave. If a worker is laid off, will he or she still be eligible for paid sick leave? Alexander says paid sick time is designed to replace normally scheduled hours, but it’s unclear what would happen if scheduled hours end in the event of a layoff (although workers may still be eligible for unemployment insurance).

Spending on paid sick leave is also capped at $500 per day if the worker is individually sick and $200 per day if a worker is caring for someone else. Also, workers can take sick leave to care for a child in cases of school or daycare closures.

Alexander notes the emergency FMLA leave under the act is very narrow and will have less of an impact than the sick leave portion. The FMLA leave only covers worker unable to work or telework in order to care for a child if their school or place of child care is closed.

Randel K. Johnson, a partner at law firm Seyfarth Shaw, also cited uncertainty in how the Department of Labor will put in place compliance directives for the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act.”

However, Johnson noted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi proposed a new law on Monday that would bring further changes to the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act.” It would change the threshold of fewer than 500 employees to one or more employees — capturing all companies. It also would expand grounds for leave under both family and sick leave mandates and it would change the sunset date to Dec. 31, 2021, instead of Dec. 31, 2020.

Seyfarth issued a legal update on Pelosi’s proposed bill.

“There is also a new provision which would require OSHA to issue an emergency temporary, and then permanent, standard, to protect employees of healthcare sector employers, employees of employers in the paramedic and emergency medical services and employees in other sectors and occupations whom the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or OSHA identifies as having elevated risk,” Johnson wrote.

Pelosi’s legislation is called the “Take Responsibility for Workers and Families Act,” and it’s more than 1,100 pages long. But the question here is whether the proposal will ultimately become law?

Meanwhile, Paychex, a paycheck processor and PEO services provider, offered an overview of key elements of the act.