15 - Extension of the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA) Covid-19 sick leave program

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Item No. 15 M'emorandum TO: Mayor & City Council FROM: Grayson Path, City Manager SUBJECT: Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Granting of Extension DATE: April 12, 2021 BACKGROUND: The Federal Government approved the FFCRA in response to the CoVid-19 Pandemic which required certain employers to provide their employees with paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to CoVid-19. These provisions were in place from April 1, 2020 — December 31, 2020. On January 11, 2021 City Council extended the FFCRA Program from January 1, 2021 through March 31, 2021. STATUS OF ISSUE: The City continues to have employees impacted by CoVid-19 and needing to take time off for testing and possibly even quarantine periods. Between January 1, 2021 and March 31, 2021, 42 employees utilized the FFCRA, with ninety (90%) of those employees using the Covid time in January. The number of employees utilizing the FFCRA has decreased from 96 employees to 42 employees, but the fact is that Covid-19 has not completely gone away. Vaccinations are on the rise and cases are dropping, but there still does appear to be some benefit to extending this FFCRA leave at least one additional quarter so that employees who might still get CoVid-19 and have not used their bank of 80 hours might do so in order to recover quickly and prevent the spread to other staff and patrons. If no further employees were to get CoVid-19 and need to utilize this leave, then having extended it would be of no consequence to the City.