Massachusetts workers who need time off work to recover from COVID-19 infections will have to rely on traditional paid leave benefits starting in less than two weeks, when the state's pandemic emergency sick leave program expires.
The Massachusetts Emergency Paid Sick Leave Program was put in place during the pandemic to help employers cover the costs of their workers' extended illnesses or caregiving commitments.
Andrew Farnitano, a spokesperson for Raise Up Massachusetts — the coalition of worker's rights groups behind recent minimum wage and paid time off victories — said advocates and lawmakers will push to restart the emergency program if there is another surge of infections and a clear need for support.
"It's important for workers to know that regardless of what happens with the emergency paid sick time program that was created for the pandemic, all workers in Massachusetts have access to 40 hours of earned sick time that they can take to care for themselves or a family member," Farnitano said.
Employers were notified by the state at the beginning of March that the program would come to an end March 15. The notice told employers they may seek reimbursement for qualifying costs of leaves taken between May 28, 2021 and March 15, 2022 and must submit applications for reimbursement by April 29.
The program, put in place more than one year after the start of the pandemic, requires businesses to offer up to one week of paid leave for COVID-related reasons. Employers could request a reimbursement of up to $850 per employee.
A spokesperson for the kinds of small businesses affected most by employee leaves during the pandemic — including restaurants and retailers — welcomed the end of the emergency program.
"It is something that was good that it was reimbursable and that they could get the money back, but even that took some time in many of these cases," said Christopher Carlozzi, state director of the National Federation of Small Businesses in Massachusetts.
The end of the program was triggered when a total of $85 million in claims had been submitted.
Most workers in Massachusetts have access to some form of paid leave regardless of an employer's own paid time off policy. Under state law, full time, part time, temporary and seasonal employees at companies with more than 11 employees earn up to 40 hours of paid sick time each year, while workers at smaller companies earn 40 hours of unpaid sick time.
"For workers who have a more serious illness or injury, the state's Paid Family Medical Leave program provides up to 26 weeks of paid leave for workers who are unable to work due to a serious illness or injury, including long COVID," Farnitano said.
A total of 24,911 payments had been made to employers as part of the emergency leave program as of Feb. 3, according to the State House News Service.
