Sleep Product Manufacturer Pays Back Wages to Tennessee Employee Wrongly Denied Paid Sick Leave After Coronavirus Diagnosis

GALLATIN, TN – Solstice Sleep Products Inc. – a Columbus, Ohio-based sleep product manufacturer – has paid $868 in back wages after wrongly denying emergency paid sick leave to an employee at its Gallatin, Tennessee, location who self-quarantined after receiving a coronavirus diagnosis.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) found that Solstice Sleep Products Inc. violated Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) when it denied the paid sick leave. After WHD contacted Solstice Sleep, the employer agreed to pay the back wages and comply with the FFCRA’s requirements in the future.

“The Wage and Hour Division is working vigorously to educate employers about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and their responsibilities under this new law,” said Wage and Hour Regional Administrator Juan Coria in Atlanta, Georgia. “The FFCRA provides vital relief for both workers and employers. We encourage everyone to use the tools and information we provide to learn about the benefits and protections available under this new law. Anyone with questions is encouraged to call us directly to speak with a trained professional to have those questions answered.”

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.

Learn more about the laws enforced by WHD, or call 866-4US-WAGE.

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.