COLORADO SPRINGS — Tomorrow, the United States is expected to extend the COVID-19-related public health emergency across the country.
Under the emergency, by law, Colorado must continue to provide 80 hours of sick leave to employees, but it's capped at 80 hours of COVID-19 leave, so if you've used it up, you won't be able to get any more.
“Sick leave policy is helpful for employees and it is designed to protect the employees,” said Dr. Richard Vu, a physician in Colorado Springs.
The current 80-hour requirement took effect on January 1, 2021 and it's still in place.
But tomorrow, the 90-day renewal for the nation-wide public health emergency is set to expire. If it is extended, that means your COVID sick leave benefit isn't going anywhere.
“It is designed to protect employees who get sick from COVID-19, and be able to stay home while still getting a paycheck for staying home, and not come to work in order to prevent the spread of an infection to other people at work,” said Dr. Vu.
All Colorado employers, regardless of size or industry, are required to provide COVID sick leave, it'll continue as long as public health emergencies remain in place either at the state level or federal level. The current PHE for Colorado went into effect on June 20th, and it lasts for 30 days until July 20th. That public health emergency will be revisited then.
If the PHE is not extended tomorrow, COVID sick leave will continue for another four weeks. So, the earliest these benefits could go away is mid-August.
While COVID-19 cases have gradually been increasing since May, Dr. Richard Vu says deaths have been decreasing. He thinks continuing the policy will hurt employers.
“It is not practical to put this financial strain on businesses and employers during this current difficult economy in our community,” said Dr. Vu.
The U.S. public health emergency, related to COVID has been extended nine times since it was declared in January 2020.
_____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
