County keeps leave policies unchanged

On May 26, the Travis County Commissioners Court maintained the status quo for county employees by taking no action regarding leave exemptions for emergency responders and health care providers under the Family First Coronavirus Response Act. FFCRA provides employees with two weeks of paid sick time and 10 weeks of extended paid time to care for a child whose school or caregiver was impacted by Covid-19. Currently, the county provides this benefit to its employees in addition to its current leave policy. Under federal law, Travis County is able to exempt these employees from FFCRA coverage due to their essential function in the county. County staff recommended that essential employees remain entitled to the federal leave policy unless their respective departments require their presence on the job. After consulting with the legal department, commissioners elected to retain flexibility and made no recommendation to change county leave policies.