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Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)
Practical Law Glossary Item w-024-8012 (Approx. 3 pages)
Glossary
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA or Families First Act) is the second major piece of federal legislation enacted in response to the US outbreak of COVID-19, the disease caused by the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) (Pub. L. No. 116-127 (Mar. 18, 2020)). Certain FFCRA provisions were amended by subsequent COVID-19 legislation known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) (Pub. L. No. 116-136 (Mar. 27, 2020)) (see Legal Update, CARES Act Contains Numerous Employee Benefit and Executive Compensation Provisions, Including Changes to COVID-19 Testing Mandate).
Among other provisions, the FFCRA:
- Requires group health plans and health insurers to provide coverage for testing, without cost-sharing, to detect or diagnose the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (see Legal Update, COVID-19 Legislation Includes Group Health Plan Coverage Requirements).
- Creates two emergency paid leave requirements in response to COVID-19:
- the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA); and
- the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLEA) (see Legal Update, Families First Coronavirus Response Act Mandates Paid Sick and Expanded FMLA Leave for Many Employees).
- Permits employers that pay qualified leave wages under the EPSLA and EFMLEA to claim refundable payroll tax credits using procedures implemented by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) (see Legal Updates, IRS Addresses Payroll Tax Credits for Leave Under COVID-19 Legislation and IRS Announces Effective Date for Payroll Tax Credits Under COVID-19 Legislation).
The FFRCA also authorizes appropriations for the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Treasury Department, and other federal agencies.