Parents who home school might not be eligible for paid leave

The U.S. Department of Labor said Thursday that employers do not need to provide paid leave to parents if they decide to enroll their children in remote learning rather than in-person instruction, given parents have the option.

If a school has in-person instruction available as well as a remote learning program, and a parent chooses to have his or her child at home, then the paid leave would not apply under the new DOL guidelines for the federal Families First Coronavirus Relief Act.

In a nutshell, said Amy Matthews, human resource director of the Nevada Association of Employers: “If the school says, ‘Well, it’s up to you, we have online available or they can come to school, it’s your choice,’ and the parent says, ‘Well, we’re choosing to have our child at home because we’re nervous,’ federal leave does not apply.”

The coronavirus relief law enacted in March allows certain employees to take up to two weeks of paid sick leave and up to 12 weeks of expanded family and medical leave; 10 of those weeks would be paid for reasons related to COVID-19.

In Southern Nevada, since school is online, except for private and charter schools, there is no real impact for employers.

“Employers are not expected to say, ‘Well, you have to send your child to private school,’ ” Matthews said. “It’s the available education that we’re talking about.”

DOL made the updates on its FAQ web page after receiving “many requests for guidance on this topic.”

Cheryl Stanton, administrator of the Wage and Hour Division at the DOL, said in a release that “we want to help ease the burden parents may face while balancing work and family responsibilities by ensuring that everyone understands the access they may have to paid leave, and that employers completely understand their role in this process.”

Not everyone is happy about the changes.

Erika Moritsugu, vice president of the National Partnership for Women & Families, said DOL’s guidance “encourages parents to risk their children’s lives by forcing in-person learning instruction.”

“The number of coronavirus cases continue to rise and children are susceptible to the virus. No parent should be penalized for making the choice to protect their child’s life and provide them with a safe, stable learning environment,” Moritsugu added.

Contact Jonathan Ng at jng@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ByJonathanNg on Twitter.