McDonald’s Franchisee Pays Back Wages to Employee Denied Paid Sick Leave to Care for Child After Coronavirus Closed Childcare Facility

LOUISVILLE, KY – The operator of a McDonald’s franchise restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky, has paid $1,135 in back wages to an employee after the employer failed to pay an employee for expanded family and medical leave to care for her child when coronavirus led to the closure of their childcare.

U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) determined NPT Partners LLC violated the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). WHD found that, while the NPT Partners paid the employee for two weeks of paid leave, the employer failed to pay for three additional weeks of leave for which the worker was eligible, and needed. NPT Partners paid the employee once WHD notified the employer and explained their obligations.

“The Families First Coronavirus Response Act offers relief to workers as they navigate through the coronavirus pandemic to provide for themselves and their families,” said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Juan Coria in Atlanta, Georgia. “The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division is working vigorously to educate employers about their obligations under this law. We encourage employers to contact us to learn how they can avoid violations like the one found in this case, and ensure that workers are provided the leave the law requires.”

The FFCRA helps the U.S. combat and defeat the workplace effects of the coronavirus by giving tax credits to American businesses with fewer than 500 employees either to provide employees with paid leave for the employee’s own health needs or to care for family members. Please visit WHD’s “Quick Benefits Tips” for information about how much leave workers may qualify to use, and the wages employers must pay. The law enables employers to provide paid leave reimbursed by tax credits, while at the same time ensuring that workers are not forced to choose between their paychecks and the public health measures needed to combat the virus.

WHD continues to provide updated information on its website and through extensive outreach efforts to ensure that workers and employers have the information they need about the benefits and protections of this new law. The agency also provides additional information on common issues employers and employees face when responding to the coronavirus and its effects on wages and hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act and on job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic

For more information about the laws enforced by WHD, call 866-4US-WAGE, or visit www.dol.gov/agencies/whd.

For further information about the coronavirus, please visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

WHD’s mission is to promote and achieve compliance with labor standards to protect and enhance the welfare of the nation’s workforce. WHD enforces federal minimum wage, overtime pay, recordkeeping and child labor requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act. WHD also enforces the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, the Employee Polygraph Protection Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, wage garnishment provisions of the Consumer Credit Protection Act, and a number of employment standards and worker protections as provided in several immigration related statutes. Additionally, WHD administers and enforces the prevailing wage requirements of the Davis-Bacon Act and the Service Contract Act and other statutes applicable to federal contracts for construction and for the provision of goods and services.

The mission of the Department of Labor is to foster, promote and develop the welfare of the wage earners, job seekers and retirees of the United States; improve working conditions; advance opportunities for profitable employment; and assure work-related benefits and rights.