Congress has put forth new laws to support employees through the COVID-19 pandemic. One of these laws, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), has specific implications for College of Western Idaho (CWI) employees.
Effective April 1, 2020, all CWI employees will have access to new benefits not previously available. The FFCRA poster describing employee benefits is now available on myCWI in the Human Resources (HR) Benefits section. Additionally, Faculty and Staff FAQs on the COVID-19 Information and Resources page continues to be updated as questions come in. Please review this page periodically to find answers to common questions.
The following additional benefits are now available to employees:
- FFCRA Paid Sick Leave: Up to 80 hours of paid leave will be provided to any employee unable to work due to COVID-19 specific implications. Employees are eligible for this additional paid leave before using any accrued sick time.
- FFCRA Expansion of FMLA: Up to 12 weeks additional FMLA will be provided to employees who have been employed for 30 days or more who are unable to work because of reason number five listed below. Of these 12 weeks the first two weeks is unpaid, and the remaining time is paid at 2/3 of the employee’s regular salary. This leave time is in addition to any existing FMLA leave time.
To qualify for these benefits, employees must be unable to work or telecommute due to one of the reasons below.
The employee:
- is subject to a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19;
- has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine related to COVID-19;
- is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis;
- is caring for an individual subject to an order described in (1) or self-quarantine as described in (2);
- is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed (or child care provider is unavailable) for reasons related to COVID-19; or
- is experiencing any other substantially-similar condition specified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Secretaries of Labor and Treasury.
What do you need to do?
If you are unable to work or telecommute for one of the six reasons listed above, complete the FFCRA Request Form on myCWI, and email to HR Benefits at HRBenefits@cwi.edu. After receiving the form, HR will provide you with instructions and information on next steps moving forward.
Updates to Leave Donation
In addition to the addition to the above benefit changes, CWI employees can now donate either Sick (NEW) or Vacation time in line with the existing Leave Donation Program. For more information, please review the Leave Donation Program found in the Employee Benefits Policy.
These benefit changes for FFCRA Paid Sick Leave, FFCRA Expanded FMLA, and updates to Leave Donation will only be in effect until Dec. 31, 2020. If you have questions please email HRBenefits@cwi.edu.