What are Qualified Family Leave Wages?
1.0k views | Last modified 7/6/2020 9:23:33 AM EST | Added by TaxBandits Team

Qualified family leave wages are wages that Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) requires eligible employers to pay eligible employees for periods of leave during which they are unable to work or telework due to a need for leave to care for a child of such employee due to COVID-19 related reasons, when:

•  The child’s school or place of care has been closed, or 
•  Because the child care provider of the child is unavailable.

The leave period considered for qualified family leave wages is between April 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020.

The first ten days for which an employee takes leave is not covered under the qualified family leave wages and may be unpaid. However, during those ten days, an employee may be entitled to receive qualified sick leave wages as provided under the ESPLA or may receive other forms of paid leave, such as accrued sick leave, annual leave, or other paid time off under the eligible employer’s policy. 

Only after the employee takes leave for ten days can the eligible employer provide the employee with qualified family leave wages for up to ten weeks. They are required to pay an amount equal to at least two-thirds of the employee’s regular rate of pay, multiplied by the number of hours the employee otherwise would have been scheduled to work, not to exceed $200 per day and $10,000 in the aggregate for the calendar year.