The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights provides information on common issues employing offices and covered employees in the Legislative Branch face when responding to COVID-19, and its effects on wages and hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).
The FFCRA will help provide employees with paid leave either for covered employee’s own health needs or to care for family members. The legislation will ensure that covered employees are not forced to choose between their paychecks and the public health measures needed to combat the virus.
PowerPoint Presentation
Fact Sheets
- Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Paid Leave Rights for Employees in the Legislative Branch
- Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Paid Leave Requirements for Employing Offices in the Legislative Branch
- Office of Congressional Workplace Rights Fact Sheet: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)
Questions and Answers
- Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Questions and Answers
- Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Posting Requirements: Frequently Asked Questions
Poster
Additional Resources
- Guidance for Offices Responding to COVID-19
- UPDATED OSHA GUIDANCE Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace (April 2021)
https://staging.ocwr.gov//osh/updated-osha-guidance-protecting-workers-guidance-on-mitigating-and-preventing-the-spread-of-covid-19-in-the-workplace/ - CDC Guidance for Businesses and Employers Responding to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) (updated March 8, 2021)
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html - CDC COVID-19 Data & Surveillance (updated March 24, 2021)
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/cases-updates/index.html - OCWR Restoration of Operations Guidance (June 2020)
https://staging.ocwr.gov//covid-19-and-the-legislative-branch/ocwr-restoration-of-operations-guidance-june-2020/ - OSHA Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 (March 2020)
https://www.osha.gov/sites/default/files/publications/OSHA3990.pdf
- UPDATED OSHA GUIDANCE Protecting Workers: Guidance on Mitigating and Preventing the Spread of COVID-19 in the Workplace (April 2021)
- The Congressional Accountability Act (CAA) provides that if the OCWR Board of Directors has not issued a regulation on a matter for which a regulation is required to be issued, the hearing officer, Board, or court, as the case may be, shall apply, to the extent necessary and appropriate, the most relevant substantive executive agency regulation promulgated to implement the statutory provision at issue in the proceeding. 2 U.S.C. § 1411. The Board has determined that it will not issue its own FFCRA regulations. In most, if not all, FFCRA matters arising under the CAA, the Secretary of Labor’s temporary regulations that are applicable to the legislative branch and consistent with the statute will probably be the most relevant substantive executive agency regulations (https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/WHD/Pandemic/FFCRA.pdf). The OCWR’s FFCRA Q&A provides additional guidance on how the statute and regulations are being interpreted by the OCWR and on the appropriate methods of seeking redress for violations of the FFCRA under the CAA (https://staging.ocwr.gov//covid-19-and-the-legislative-branch/families-first-coronavirus-response-act-questions-answers/).