Expanded Paid Sick Leave and Expanded FMLA

Request Form – Expanded Paid Sick Leave and Expanded FMLA

EKU’s Office of Human Resources is here to support you! We wanted to update you on new benefits available pursuant to the recently enacted Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Effective April 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020, additional paid sick leave opportunities will be available for employees for specific reasons related to COVID-19, as well as expanded provisions under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). This information is subject to change as additional guidance is released pertaining to this emergency situation.

Additional Paid Sick Leave

Pursuant to the FFCRA, the University will provide up to two weeks of additional paid sick leave to employees, subject to certain provisions, caps, and limitations. Fulltime employees will be provided up to 80 hours of additional paid sick leave; part-time employees will be provided paid sick leave for an average of the number of hours they are normally scheduled to work over a two-week period (please contact Human Resources for calculation details). Depending on the reason for the leave, the amount paid for leave may be less than the employee would receive if actually working. This additional paid leave is available from April 1, 2020, and cannot be used for absences prior to April 1, 2020. Please refer to the chart below*:

Request Form and Process

If you wish to utilize special COVID-19 paid sick leave you must submit a request form and supporting documentation to Human Resources at Human.Resources@eku.edu as soon as possible when your need for leave arises. If your leave request conforms to FFCRA requirements, an HR representative will contact you and guide you and your supervisor through next steps. If you are unsure of the process, or if you have questions, please send a message to this same email address, or call Human Resources at (859) 622-5094. Please note that there may be a delay as most Human Resources employees are also working from home.

Expanded Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

FMLA job protections have been temporarily expanded under the FFCRA to include certain employees who must care for a son or daughter under the age of 18 if their school or place of care has been closed or the child care provided is unavailable due to a COVID-19 related emergency. Employees who have been employed at EKU for at least thirty (30) calendar days are eligible. Eligible employees can receive up to twelve (12) weeks of FMLA protection. The first ten (10) days of this time are unpaid (though an employee can use paid time off to cover this period), then the employee may receive up to ten (10) weeks of pay at 2/3 their regular rate of pay for the number of hours they would normally work for up to ten (10) additional weeks. Please contact Human Resources for additional information about these calculations. Payment is subject to caps and limitations.

Request Form and Process

An employee who wishes to utilize the FMLA expansion must submit a request form and supporting documentation to Human Resources at Human.Resources@eku.edu as soon as possible when your need for leave arises. An HR representative will then follow up with you regarding next steps. If you are unsure of the process, or if you have questions, please send a message to this same email address, or call Human Resources at 622-5094. Please note that there may be a delay as most Human Resources employees are also working from home.

Additional Information!

HR is closed to in-person questions, but appointments are available through phone, email, Skype, or Zoom. Contact information for the Human Resources team is available at our website, https://hr.eku.edu/. You can also reach out directly to the Human Resources Business Partner assigned to your area--check the listing at https://hr.eku.edu/hr-business-partners. Not sure who to call? You can email questions to our general email address, Human.Resources@eku.edu.

For additional information about employee rights under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act as well as other Federal laws and regulations pertaining to employment, you can also access the Department of Labor’s website at https://www.dol.gov/general/topics/posters.