Sick and Family Leave Paid Wages Update

Updated as of 3:00 p.m. on February 3, 2021

On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021(HR 133, “the Act”). This Act extended several tax incentives set to expire on December 31, 2020 and addressed additional COVID-19 relief options available to employers, such as the second draw of the Paycheck Protection Program loan and the extension of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act’s sick and family leave paid wages. Listed below are the changes that were made to the sick and family leave paid wages, an option most employers have available to them. For a full overview of the sick and family leave wages, click here.

• Employers are no longer legally required to offer paid leave to employees for wages paid after December 31, 2020.
• The Act extended the sick and family paid wages for wages paid through March 31, 2021.
• Wages paid to employees who had already utilized their two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid leave in 2020 are not eligible for the tax credit in 2021.
• If an employee had not utilized all of their two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid leave in 2020, employees can use paid leave through March 31, 2021. Employers can use these wages in the calculation of their tax credit.

Please let your MHCS advisor know if you have any questions.