Phase II of the COVID-19 Relief Bills: Unemployment and Workers' Compensation

Both the federal government and the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry have issued new laws, programs, and guidance for businesses and employees impacted by COVID-19.  These programs and benefits concerning Unemployment Compensation (UC), Workers Compensation (WC), emergency Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and emergency Paid Sick Leave will impact most industries, including agriculture, farming, and food-related businesses. The following is an overview of these benefits as they relate to the Commonwealth, and will be periodically updated as this topic evolves. 

COVID-19 in Pennsylvania

These benefit programs will help to address the impact of COVID-19 mitigation efforts issued by Governor Tom Wolf, which include guidance and restrictions in travel and business patronage, as well as "stay at home" orders for the hardest hit counties.

These COVID-19 mitigation efforts will impact Pennsylvania's food system in many ways, including potential layoffs or reductions in hours of employees by farms and food-related businesses.

To be sure, the Wolf Administration considers local agriculture, food distribution, and food retail as "essential businesses" in providing a safe and accessible food supply. To that end, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding asserted that "access to food is a right; we need local agriculture now more than ever." 

As Pennsylvania farm and food-related businesses continue their essential role in our local food system, they do so on the front lines of the pandemic. At a time when Pennsylvanians are being asked to limit their travel, practice social distancing, and mitigate possible COVID-19 exposure, the employees of these essential businesses are working to ensure that the public has access to food at risk to their own health and safety. As front line workers, the protection of these employees' livelihoods and health are integrally tied to the protection of public health.

COVID-19 Guidelines for UC and WC

In recognition of this, workers may now be eligible for UC and WC benefits should their terms of employment or health be impacted by COVID-19. The Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry currently recognizes the following as qualifying events for UC:

• Your employer temporarily closes or goes out of business because of COVID-19
• Your employer reduces your hours because of COVID-19
• You have been told not to work because your employer feels you might get or spread COVID-19
• You have been told to quarantine or self-isolate, or live/work in a county under government-recommended mitigation efforts

Employees may also be eligible for WC if they believe they may have been exposed to COVID-19 in the workplace. 

In an effort to expedite new claims, the normal "Waiting Week" has been temporarily suspended; eligible claimants may receive benefits for the first week that they are unemployed. The Work Search and Work Registration requirements have also been temporarily waived for all UC claimants.

More details on Pennsylvania's Unemployment and Workers' Compensation programs are available on the Office of Unemployment Compensation's website, which will publish important employment benefit updates as the situation evolves. Employees impacted by COVID-19 can file their claim online at this same website; their telephone and web chat functions have been inundated by high volumes of inquiries, so it is recommended that you begin the online application process. 

This resource provides Pennsylvania-specific guidance on how these eligibility requirements are calculated.  The above eligibility requirements may also be supplemented or superseded by federal programs related to COVID-19, detailed in the following section.

Federal Expansions to FMLA, Paid Sick Leave, and Unemployment Insurance

"Phase Two" of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) enacted into law on March 18, 2020 provides additional guidance to employers with fewer than 500 employees regarding COVID-19 related events and expansions to both FMLA and Paid Sick Leave. 

The FFCRA provides the following benefits for staff at businesses with 500 or fewer employees:

• Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick time at the employee's regular rate of pay where the employee is unable to work because the employee is quarantined (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of a health care provider), and/or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis; or
• Two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick time at two-thirds the employee's regular rate of pay because the employee is unable to work because of a bona fide need to care for an individual subject to quarantine (pursuant to Federal, State, or local government order or advice of a health care provider), or to care for a child (under 18 years of age) whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19, and/or the employee is experiencing a substantially similar condition as specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of the Treasury and Labor; and
• Up to an additional 10 weeks of paid family leave at two-thirds the employee's regular rate of pay where an employee, who has been employed for at least 30 calendar days, is unable to work due to a bona fide need for leave to care for a child whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19.

Employers with fewer than 50 staff are subject to this law, but the U.S. Labor Department could exempt these small businesses if providing leave would put them out of business. People who are self-employed can also receive paid leave, assuming they pay taxes.

The FFCRA also provides Emergency Paid Sick Leave to workers who experience the following situations:

1. The employee is subject to a federal, state or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19.
2. The employee has been advised by a healthcare provider to self-quarantine because of concerns related to COVID-19.
3. The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis.
4. The employee is caring for an individual who is subject to an order as described in (1) or has been advised as described in (2).
5. The employee is caring for a child of such employee if the school or place of care has been closed, or the child care provider is unavailable because of COVID-19 precautions.
6. The employee is experiencing any other substantially similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of Labor.

To help offset the contributions that employers make to these benefit programs, businesses will be reimbursed for some of these costs through tax credits.  The U.S. Department of Labor has published more details on FMLA qualifying events and how both COVID-19 related FMLA and Paid Sick Leave payments are determined.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES), enacted into law on March 27, 2020 provides supplementary Unemployment Insurance to employees impacted by COVID-19, bolstering Pennsylvania's UC benefits detailed above.

The CARES legislation both extends the length and amount of weekly benefits to the unemployed, providing individuals "an additional $600 per week for up to four months. In total, unemployed workers will receive 39 weeks of unemployment benefits, which will carry them through to the end of 2020."  The legislation also expands unemployment protections to the self-employed and freelancers, who typically do not qualify for unemployment benefits.

Payroll Protection Program

The CARES legislation also provides a Payroll Protection Program (PPP) to further support businesses that are incurring payroll-related expenses during the first eight weeks after enrolling, including expenses associated with parental, family, medical, or sick leave. The PPP loans are forgivable when the program criteria are met, and both food businesses and agricultural producers are eligible to participate in the program.  As funding is limited, businesses should reach out to their bankers and/or agricultural lenders to apply immediately. More guidance on the PPP program can be found from the U.S. Treasury.

Protecting Employee Health at Farm and Food-Related Businesses

For businesses throughout the food supply chain, guidance on protecting both employees and the public from COVID-19 are available on the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's website.

Penn State Extension has articles detailing the SBA business loan programs within Phase I of the COVID-19 federal relief bills, as well as the Small Business benefit programs within Phase III. 

Penn State Extension has also published the following food safety guidance regarding COVID-19 and food supply chain businesses:

• Food Processors
• General Questions and Answers on COVID-19

This publication is meant for informational purposes only and does not constitute specific legal advice.

Where trade names or vendors appear, no discrimination is intended, and no endorsement by Penn State Extension is implied.