No. Agencies must grant sick leave when an illness, such as COVID-19, prevents an employee from performing work.

Yes, advance leave can be granted to an employee who is ill due to an infectious disease, such as COVID-19, or must care for a family member who is ill.

However, while sick leave may be advanced at an agency’s discretion, it is not an employee entitlement. The sick leave regulations allow an employee to be advanced sick leave for exposure to a quarantinable communicable disease, subject to the limitations below:

• 240 hours (30 days) may be advanced if the employee would jeopardize the health of others by his or her presence on the job because of exposure to a quarantinable communicable disease;
• 104 hours (13 days) may be advanced if the employee is providing care for a family member who would jeopardize the health of others by his or her presence in the community because of exposure to a quarantinable communicable disease.

An employee, covered by a telework agreement, may request to telework with the permission of the supervisor.

An employee may also request to take annual leave, advanced annual leave, other paid time off (e.g., earned compensatory time off, earned credit hours), or leave without pay.

An employee may use annual leave, advanced annual leave, other paid time off (e.g., earned compensatory time off, earned credit hours), or leave without pay to care for a family member who is healthy but has been quarantined due to COVID-19 or an infectious disease.

An employee, covered by a telework agreement, may be able to telework with the permission of the supervisor.

Yes. An agency can order its employees to evacuate their regular worksites and work from home during a pandemic health crisis. (This applies when WHO makes the declaration — not state or local agencies.)

An agency that has a general bar on teleworking when there are young children or other persons requiring care and supervision may choose to adjust its policies to allow, as a special exception, telework in those circumstances in the case of an emergency, such as the COVID-19 situation.

Under such an exception policy, a teleworking employee would be expected to account for work and non-work hours during his or her tour of duty and take appropriate leave (paid or unpaid) to account for time spent away from normal work-related duties (e.g., to care for small children).

The FLSA generally applies to hours actually worked. It does not require employers who are unable to provide work to non-exempt employees to pay them for hours the employees would have otherwise worked.

Yes. An employer may encourage or require employees to telework as an infection-control or prevention strategy, including based on timely information from public health authorities about pandemics, public health emergencies, or other similar conditions. Telework also may be a reasonable accommodation. Read more about other health and safety measures on our Infectious Disease page.

If telework is being provided as a reasonable accommodation for a qualified individual with a disability, or if required by a union or employment contract, then you must pay the same hourly rate or salary.

If this is not the case and you do not have a union contract or other employment contracts, under the FLSA employers generally have to pay employees only for the hours they actually work, whether at home or at the employer’s office. However, the FLSA requires employers to pay non-exempt workers at least the minimum wage for all hours worked, and at least time and one half the regular rate of pay for hours worked in excess of 40 in a workweek. Salaried exempt employees generally must receive their full salary in any week in which they perform any work, subject to certain very limited exceptions.

If exempt employees cannot work from home, and cannot come into work, an employer must pay the employee unless the exempt employee does not work for the entire workweek.

As of now, only six states have legislation that pays workers for at least some time during public health emergencies, including coverage if a child’s school is closed. They are Arizona, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

If your children or your parents are sick, the federal FLMA requires firms with 50 or more employees to provide eligible workers up to 12 weeks off to take care of themselves or family members with serious health conditions. But that leave is unpaid. Learn more on our FMLA page.

The CDC strongly encourages people who have an infectious disease, such as COVID-19, to stay home as a measure to prevent the spread of such disease. If you do not receive sick leave or paid leave, absent state or municipal requirements that require paid leave or new legislation at the federal level, your employer isn’t required to pay you if you don’t do the job you’re hired for.

As of now, 11 states — California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin — and the District of Columbia along with a few cities/municipalities, have legislation requiring employers to provide paid sick leave to qualified employers. Find more information on our State and Local Paid Sick Leave Laws, Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) & Emergency Paid Sick Leave and Employee Protections During Natural Disasters and Epidemics pages which provide resources to leave policies during natural disaters and pandemics.

Cities and Counties

These cities and counties have laws in effect that allow workers to earn paid sick days to recover from a short-term illness, care for a sick family member or seek routine medical care: San Francisco, Oakland, Emeryville, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Santa Monica and San Diego (Calif.); Washington, D.C.; New York City; Seattle and Tacoma (Wash.); Philadelphia (Pa.); Montgomery County (Md.); Chicago and Cook County (Ill.); St. Paul, Minneapolis and Duluth (Minn.); and Dallas (Texas). Find more information on our State and Local Paid Sick Leave Laws.

Yes. Our page on Employee Protections During Natural Disasters and Epidemics provides more information.