From illness to school closures to furloughs and layoffs, millions of Americans’ jobs have been impacted by the coronavirus. As a result, Congress has made several changes to the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), sick leave policies, and unemployment insurance. If your job was impacted in any way due to the coronavirus, here’s what you need to know.

Updated Sick Leave Policies

All employers with fewer than 500 employees are required to provide 10 days of paid sick leave if the leave is related to COVID-19. This includes all of the following as eligible recipients of paid sick leave:

• Employees who test positive themselves
• Those who are quarantined as a precaution due to potential exposure
• Employees who need to care for a sick family member
• Parents staying home to care for a child during school closures

Note: if you are able to work remotely, paid sick leave is not available.

Updated FMLA Policies

Employers with fewer than 500 employees are required to provide up to 10 weeks of paid FMLA leave for employees who need to take care of a child due to school or daycare closures caused by COVID-19.

For both the paid sick leave policies and FMLA policies, if leave is taken because you are sick with COVID-19, the leave is paid at an employee’s regular rate with a maximum of $511/day. If leave is taken to care for a family member who is sick or for a child during school closures, the leave is paid at 2/3 an employee’s regular rate with a maximum of $200/day.

Also, this paid leave is in addition to already existing paid leave policies with your employer. It is not a replacement for other sick leave or paid time off previously agreed to by you and your employer. Your employer will be reimbursed by the federal government up to the maximum for paid leave.

Unemployment Insurance Changes

Many Americans are facing layoffs or furloughs due to slowed business traffic as a result of COVID-19. If you lost your job, there are important changes recently made to unemployment insurance you should be aware of.

• An additional $600/week on top of the usual calculated benefit is available through July 31
• A 13-week extension has been added onto the standard 26-week maximum payout of unemployment benefits, creating up to 39 weeks of unemployment benefits (through December 31)
• The State of Texas has waived the typical one-week waiting period for unemployment benefits, allowing Texans to access relief sooner

Other Assistance for Individuals

There are a couple more items included in recent legislative efforts to assist individuals whose jobs have been impacted by the coronavirus. If you have student loan debt payments, they can now be deferred through the end of September. If you need to access retirement savings as emergency cash, the standard 10% penalty is waived (up to withdrawals of $100,000) so long as the withdrawal is made due to financial impact of the virus.