A Florida company wrongly refused $1,200 sick pay to a worker with COVID-19, Labor says
A Panama City landscaping company violated the Family First Coronavirus Response Act’s sick leave portion by refusing to give a COVID-19 positive employee paid sick leave, the U.S. Department of Labor announced.
Garden Escapes, run by Jeffrey Reynolds, paid the employee $1,200 in back pay.
Under the FFCRA, workers at companies with fewer than 500 employees or a public business covered by the act are entitled to:
▪ Up to two weeks or 80 hours of paid sick leave at either regular pay or minimum wage (whichever is higher) if quarantined by federal, state or local government orders or a healthcare provider or if you have COVID-19 symptoms and are waiting for test results.
▪ Up to two weeks or 80 hours of paid leave at 2/3 regular pay or minimum wage (whichever is higher) if taking care of someone being quarantined or caring for a child whose school is closed by COVID-19 issues.
▪ Up to 10 additional weeks of family leave at 2/3 regular pay if you have to stay home to care for a child whose daycare or school is closed by COVID-19 and you’ve been employed more than 30 days.
For online information on how to file a complaint about pay violations, go to the Wage and Hour complaint section of the Department of Labor website. Miami’s Wage and Hour Division office can be reached at 305-598-6607.
