I'm not sure what you're referring to - are you talking about paid sick leave rights? I'm not seeing how this is a bad thing. Nor how the FFCRA and CARES Acts are government overreach. It's the government's responsibility to keep the economy going. You may not agree with the particulars of how they're doing it, but that doesn't make it overreach.
Second, I don't think the paid sick leave rights provided by FFCRA made companies lay off their employees because they didn't want to have to pay sick leave. Companies laid off workers because business had slowed or outright stopped. I don't think a company that still is able to retain all or most of its business is just going to lay off workers because they don't want to pay 12 weeks of paid sick leave if someone gets sick. That wouldn't make sense. Also, if a business needs help paying salary or leave for the employees it retains, there is the Paycheck Protection Program provided by the CARES Act. Though the finer details of both of these Acts are still being clarified.
The Covid Cares Act isn’t just about paid sick leave, it requires the company to pay the employee in the event of a quarantine whether the employee is sick or not, that is why there was a surge in lay offs the last week of March, my company as well as my previous company (one of the largest clothing retailers in the world) laid off their workers specifically citing the Covid Cares Act as the reason, because the county and then the state enacted the quarantine So the workers could not go to work as a result.
If it was just for being sick that is fine, the government decided it was going to require employer’s to continued full pay even if the employee wasn’t sick but under local, county, state, or federal quarantine or shelter in place orders. That is government overreach, to expect private business to pay workers who can’t work because of a government order.
The Covid Cares Act requires the companies to continue to pay them even though they weren‘t sick, only quarantined by government action. How can a company pay employees when they have no receivables?
under normal circumstances the company would require the employee to used PTO once that was used up the employee would remain off without pay, sick time in CA is a earn it and use it or lose it within the year system, and companies can cap it at 24 hours or 3 full time days.
also from what my companies attorneys have told us, paycheck protection does not apply, nor does any of the small business relief options being floated around, to any business that is owned in part by private equity.
im about to become one of those “loss of job” people within the next week or two, Sadly my company has already told us that if we can’t reopen distribution mid-May we are out of business for good. The company only had enough liquid assets to remain closed for 90 days, for March they paid everyone full salary, for April only those critical to the business, for May and June we are all taking a 20% pay cut, If we don’t start shipping in May we will be closed for good by the end of June.
I’m already interviewing, and I am switching industries, getting out of retail and manufacturing.