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Item No. 8 <br />Memorandum <br />TO: Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem & City Council <br />FROM: Grayson Path, City Manager <br />SUBJECT: Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) <br />Granting of Extension <br />DATE: September 13, 2021 <br />The Federal Government approved the FFCRA in response to the CoVid-19 Pandemic which <br />required certain employers to provide their employees with paid sick leave and expanded family <br />and medical leave for specified reasons related to CoVid-19. These provisions were in place from <br />April 1, 2020 — December 31, 2020. While the federal requirements for this leave ended on <br />12/31/20, they recommended that employers voluntarily continue this leave for their employees <br />given CoVid-19 was still a rampant issue in the country. The City Council agreed to extend the <br />FFCRA Program two consecutive quarters, thus from January 1, 2021 through June 30, 2021. At <br />the end of the second quarter, CoVid- 19 cases in the City and County were low enough to warrant <br />ending the program. <br />STATUS OF ISSUE: <br />Despite the low CoVid-19 numbers we experienced this summer, with the addition of the new <br />Delta CoVid- 19 variant, CoVid- 19 cases in the City and County have once again dramatically <br />increased. The City is likewise seeing high numbers of employees getting sick and needing to <br />quarantine away from work. While it was slow in the start of the third quarter, it has drastically <br />picked up lately. In addition, the Governor's Mandate GA -38 disallows the City Manager to <br />require facial coverings of his employees, therefore we are more vulnerable than we were a year <br />ago. Because of this, it is requested that the City Council consider re -instating the CoVid-19 leave <br />under the same terms and conditions as before. <br />Between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021, 45 employees utilized the FFCRA. Since the program <br />ended on June 30'h, we know of about ten employees who have been out with CoVid-19. This <br />number has been increasing as of late and we expect it to continue to rise in the upcoming Fall and <br />