USDOL Announces Online Tool to Help Workers

U.S. Department Of Labor Announces Online Tool to Help Workers Determine Eligibility for Paid Sick Leave Due to Coronavirus

June 25, 2020
Source: U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)

The U.S. Department of Labor today launched an interactive online tool to help workers determine if they qualify for paid sick leave or extended family and medical leave to cover time away from work for reasons related to the coronavirus.

The tool guides workers through a series of questions to help them determine if the paid leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) apply to their employer. If the provisions do apply, the tool helps them learn whether they qualify for either paid sick leave or extended family and medical leave under that law.

The FFCRA requires certain employers to provide employees with up to two weeks of paid sick leave if they are unable to work or telework due to a federal, state or local quarantine or stay-at-home order. Employees are also eligible if a healthcare provider has advised them to self-quarantine for reasons related to the coronavirus or are seeking diagnosis for coronavirus symptoms. Paid sick leave may also be available to workers caring for someone subject to a quarantine order or self-quarantining based on a healthcare provider’s advice, or caring for a child whose school, place of care or child care provider is closed or unavailable due to the coronavirus. Up to 10 additional weeks of expanded family and medical leave is available for workers forced to miss work to care for their children because the pandemic has closed or made unavailable their school, place of care or child care provider.

“This new tool makes it simple for workers to find out if they may be eligible for paid sick leave or extended family and medical leave under the critical protections of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act,” said Wage and Hour Division [WHD] Administrator Cheryl Stanton. “As America reopens, this leave provides a crucial lifeline for millions of workers who need time off to care for themselves or their families. We want to ensure that everyone who is eligible knows about these protections and how to use them.”

The FFCRA helps the U.S. combat the workplace effects of the coronavirus by giving tax credits to American businesses with fewer than 500 employees to reimburse them for the cost of providing paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave as required by the law. 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 their workers with paid leave, 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 the WHD, call 866-4US-WAGE, or visit www.dol.gov/agencies/whd.

WHD developed the plain-language tool in partnership with the Office of Compliance Initiatives (OCI). OCI is a cross-agency effort that complements the Department’s enforcement activities by strengthening and innovating compliance assistance outreach to provide workers and employers with access to information about their rights and responsibilities. Through Worker.gov and Employer.gov, OCI provides information about worker rights and employer responsibilities.

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.

Link: Go to website for News Source
https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20200623

Disability Rights in State Emergencies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2020

Contact: HHS Press Office
202-690-6343
media@hhs.gov

OCR Resolves Complaint with Tennessee After it Revises its Triage Plans to Protect Against Disability Discrimination

Today, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is announcing that it has reached an early case resolution with the state of Tennessee after it updated its crisis standards of care (“CSC”) plan to ensure that the criteria does not discriminate against persons based on disability or age.  This is OCR’s fourth resolution with a state regarding disability discrimination concerns during COVID-19.

OCR enforces a number of federal antidiscrimination laws, including Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the Age Discrimination Act of 1975.

OCR received a complaint from Disability Rights Tennessee and other advocacy organizations alleging that Tennessee’s CSC plan, titled “Guidance for the Ethical Allocation of Scarce Resources during a Community-Wide Public Health Emergency as Declared by the Governor of Tennessee” discriminates based on disability. Among other things, complainants alleged that Tennessee’s CSC would unlawfully disqualify individuals with advanced neuromuscular disease, metastatic cancer, traumatic brain injury, dementia, and other disabilities from use of a ventilator in times of scarcity.

After OCR provided technical assistance to Tennessee, the state has updated its CSC plan and:

• Clarified that resource-intensity and duration of need on the basis of age or disability should not be used as criteria for the allocation or re-allocation of scarce medical resources. This protects patients who require additional treatment resources due to their age or disability from automatically being given a lower priority to receive life-saving care;
• Removed language permitting the use of a patient’s long-term life expectancy as a factor in the allocation and re-allocation of scarce medical resources, instead indicating that providers should consider only risk of imminent mortality;
• Added language stating that reasonable modifications to the use of the state’s primary instrument for assessing likelihood of short-term survival should be made when necessary for accurate use with patients with underlying disabilities. Such reasonable modifications ensure that people with disabilities are evaluated based on their actual mortality risk, not disability-related characteristics unrelated to their likelihood of survival;
• Removed categorical exclusion criteria that prohibited people with disabilities from receiving care on the basis of their diagnosis, and required individualized assessments of patients based on the best available objective medical evidence; and
• Incorporated language stating that hospitals should not re-allocate personal ventilators brought by a patient to an acute care facility to continue pre-existing personal use with respect to a disability. Under this language, long term ventilator users will be protected from having a ventilator they take with them into a hospital setting taken from them to be given to someone else.

In light of these actions, OCR is closing the complaint as resolved to the satisfaction of all parties involved without any finding of liability.

Regarding the early case resolution, Roger Severino, OCR Director said, “We commend Tennessee for updating its policies to ensure that hospitals do not deny life-saving care during a crisis based on stereotypes about disabilities or other impermissible factors. Our civil rights laws reflect the principle that we are all created with equal dignity and worth.” Severino added.

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For more information about how OCR is protecting civil rights during COVID-19, please visit  https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/civil-rights-covid19/index.html.

To learn more about non-discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, age, and disability; conscience and religious freedom; and health information privacy laws, and to file a complaint with OCR, please visit www.hhs.gov/ocr.

Follow OCR on Twitter at @HHSOCR .

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Civil Rights Reporting

Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Monday, June 15, 2020

Department of Justice Announces Launch of Civil Rights Reporting Portal

A new online tool designed to help the public report civil rights violations

The Department of Justice today announced the launch of the Civil Rights Reporting Portal. This new online tool will make it easier for the public to report a civil rights violation.

“The department is committed to upholding the civil and constitutional rights of all people in the United States,” said Assistant Attorney General Eric Dreiband of the Civil Rights Division. “The Civil Rights Reporting Portal will make it easier for the public to connect with us, which in turn makes us more effective at upholding these important rights. I encourage the public to use this portal to report civil rights violations.”

The new Civil Rights Reporting Portal – located at civilrights.justice.gov – will consolidate over 30 unique reporting pathways. The portal will dramatically ease the burden on victims of civil rights violations to identify the proper reporting channel. The form is fully accessible to people with disabilities. It is also available in both English and Spanish, with more languages to be added over the next year.

Individuals who believe that they may have been victims of civil rights violations can learn how to report violations by visiting civilrights.justice.gov.

If you believe that you are a victim of criminal civil rights violations, such as misconduct by law enforcement officers, hate crimes, or human trafficking, please contact your local FBI office.

Topic(s): 

Civil Rights

Component(s): 

Civil Rights Division

Absentee Voting

 Download Absentee Request Form | Military/Overseas Absentee Request Information

1. Am I eligible to vote absentee by-mail?

You can vote absentee by-mail if you fall under one of the following categories:

• You will be outside the county where you are registered during the early voting period and all day on Election Day.
• You or your spouse are a full-time student in an accredited college or university outside the county where you are registered.
• You are on the permanent absentee list (see question 4 below).
• You reside in a nursing home, assisted living facility or home for the aged outside your county of residence.
• You will be unable to vote in-person due to jury duty.
• You are sixty (60) years of age or older.
• You have a physical disability and an inaccessible polling place.
• You are hospitalized, ill or physically disabled and unable to appear at your polling place to vote; and/or you have determined it is impossible or unreasonable to vote in-person due to the COVID-19 situation.
• You are the caretaker of a person who is hospitalized, ill, or disabled, and/or you have determined it is impossible or unreasonable to vote in-person due to the COVID-19 situation.
• You are a candidate for office in the election.
• You serve as an Election Day official or as a member or employee of the election commission.
• You are observing a religious holiday that prevents you from voting in person during the early voting period and on Election Day.
• You or your spouse possess a valid commercial drivers license (CDL) or Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) card and you will be working outside the state or county of registration during the open hours of early voting and Election Day and have no specific out-of-county or out-of-state address to which mail may be sent or received during such time.
• You are a member of the military or is an overseas citizen. read more ...

2. How can I request an absentee by-mail ballot?

You must submit a written request containing the information below to your local county election commission office by the seventh day before Election Day. You can use the absentee ballot request form to make sure all required information is provided.

You can submit your written request for an absentee ballot by mail, fax, or e-mail. If e-mailing your request, be sure the attached document contains the information below and your scanned signature. 

1. Name of the registered voter
2. Address of the voter's residence
3. Voter's social security number
4. Voter's date of birth
5. Address to mail the ballot
6. The election in which the voter wishes to participate. If the election involves a primary, the political party in which the voter wishes to participate.
7. Reason the voter wishes to vote absentee. If applicable, a copy of the CDL containing the CDL number or the TWIC card must be included in the voter’s request.
8. Voter's signature

A request that contains this information will be processed and a ballot will be mailed to the voter.

NOTICE: A person who is not an employee of an election commission commits a Class E felony if such person gives an application for an absentee ballot to any person or commits a Class A misdemeanor if such person gives an unsolicited request for application for absentee ballot to any person. T.C.A. § 2-6-202(c)(3) and (4).

3. What if I do not provide all of the information required on the absentee by-mail ballot application?

The county election commission will return the application to you so you can make corrections and resubmit your application.

4. Do I qualify for the permanent absentee list?

You will receive an application for ballot for each election if your licensed physician signs a statement  stating that, in the their judgment, you are medically unable to vote in person. The statement must be filed not less than seven (7) days before the election and signed under the penalty of perjury.

5. When can I request my ballot?

You may request an absentee by-mail ballot no earlier than ninety (90) days before the election and no later than seven (7) days before the election. To be processed for the next election, the application must be received by the election commission no later than seven (7) days before the election.

The deadline for the August 6 election is Thursday, July 30.

Requests for the November presidential election cannot be received until August 5.

6. What if I do not receive or ruin my ballot and can no longer use it?

You should notify your county election commission.

7.What is the deadline to return my ballot so it can be counted?

You must mail your ballot in time for your county election commission to receive it no later than the close of polls on Election Day.

8. Can I hand deliver my ballot to the election office?

No. You must return your ballot by mail (USPS, FedEx, UPS, etc.).

9. Is any additional information if I registered to vote by mail?

Unless you are on the permanent absentee voting register or enrolled in the Safe at Home program, you must appear in-person to vote in the first election after you have registered by mail. If you have already voted in-person since you registered, then no additional information will be required to vote by mail. 

Disability Housing to Get Millions in Funding

Federal officials are funneling millions of dollars into new housing opportunities for people with disabilities across the nation.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said it is making available nearly $77 million to support as many as 8,300 housing vouchers for this population.

The funding for what’s known as the Section 811 Mainstream Housing Choice Voucher Program was announced late last month and is part of the CARES Act, a large coronavirus relief package approved by Congress in March.

“As we continue to fight this invisible enemy, we are working quickly and effectively to ensure public housing authorities nationwide are receiving the necessary funding needed to keep their residents safe,” said Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Ben Carson. “This wave of relief funds will provide additional housing choice vouchers to residents living with disabilities, allowing them to live safely and independently through these unprecedented times.”

The new housing vouchers will ensure that more people with disabilities can reside in community-based settings as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, officials said.

HUD is distributing the funds to local housing agencies in nearly every state which are being encouraged to partner with health and human service agencies to coordinate services and supports so that people with disabilities can live independently.

Stimulus payments are not for Nursing Homes

IRS alert: Economic Impact Payments belong to recipient, not nursing homes or care facilities

WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today alerted nursing home and other care facilities that Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) generally belong to the recipients, not the organizations providing the care.

The IRS issued this reminder following concerns that people and businesses may be taking advantage of vulnerable populations who received the Economic Impact Payments.

The payments are intended for the recipients, even if a nursing home or other facility or provider receives the person’s payment, either directly or indirectly by direct deposit or check. These payments do not count as a resource for purposes of determining eligibility for Medicaid and other federal programs for a period of 12 months from receipt. They also do not count as income in determining eligibility for these programs.

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has issued FAQs on this issue, including how representative payees should handle administering the payments for the recipient. SSA has noted that under the Social Security Act, a representative payee is only responsible for managing Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. An EIP is not such a benefit; the EIP belongs to the Social Security or SSI beneficiary. A representative payee should discuss the EIP with the beneficiary. If the beneficiary wants to use the EIP independently, the representative payee should provide the EIP to the beneficiary.

The IRS also noted the Economic Impact Payments do not count as resources that have to be turned over by benefit recipients, such as residents of nursing homes whose care is provided for by Medicaid. The Economic Impact Payment is considered an advance refund for 2020 taxes, so it is considered a tax refund for benefits purposes.

The IRS noted the language in the Form 1040 instructions apply to Economic Impact Payments: “Any refund you receive can't be counted as income when determining if you or anyone else is eligible for benefits or assistance, or how much you or anyone else can receive, under any federal program or under any state or local program financed in whole or in part with federal funds. These programs include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly food stamps). In addition, when determining eligibility, the refund can't be counted as a resource for at least 12 months after you receive it.”

Additional information about EIPs and representative payees involving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits can be found at www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/#reppayee.

Additional information on EIPs can be found at www.irs.gov/eipfaq.