resources personnel , cooks , food services workers , records managers , consultants and billers are all specifically excluded . See § 826.30 ( c )( 1 )( iii ). Schedulers and receptionists are not listed explicitly but likely fall into this group also unless they also provide medical services . Consequently , beginning September 16 , 2020 , health care employers outside of New York are no longer able to exempt these employees from the sick leave and expanded leave provisions of the FFCRA without substantial compliance risk , even if the loss of these employees ’ services could affect the provision of services to patients .
Next , the DOL revised its position that documents and information supporting the need for leave under the FFCRA must be provided to the employer before the employee takes leave . Instead , under the revised rule , the information must only be provided as soon as practicable , and prohibits employers from requiring the employee to provide advance notice of leave , unless the need for leave is foreseeable . See § 826.100 . Also , the DOL clarified that an employee may generally provide the information to their employer via an adult family member or other responsible party if they are unable to do so personally . See § 826.90 . Medical documentation is unnecessary for the employee to initiate leave ; an oral or written statement that the employee is unable to work because of a qualified reason for leave will suffice . See § 826.100 .
Finally , the DOL rejected two of the New York court ’ s objections in its April 2020 temporary rule , but instead provided further support for its administrative interpretation of the FFCRA . First , the DOL reiterated that FFCRA leave is only available to persons who have work from which to take leave and were not already on furlough or terminated at the time the need for leave arises . The DOL also confirmed the employer ’ s discretion to grant or reject an employee ’ s request for intermittent sick leave or expanded family or medical leave under the FFCRA .
34 DITCHMEN • SEPTEMBER 2020