Markets Wired

Today, Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo met virtually with Tiffany Turner, co-owner of Adrift Hospitality, a group of boutique hotels in Washington and Oregon, and Luz Alcantar, an Adrift Hotel Property Manager, to discuss the American Rescue Plan’s paid leave benefits. The discussion was facilitated by the Main Street Alliance. Deputy Secretary Adeyemo asked about the challenges Ms. Turner and Ms. Alcantar faced weathering the COVID-19 pandemic as a small business owner and operator in the hospitality space.

The Deputy Secretary commended Ms. Turner and Ms. Alcantar for using the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA) tax credits to provide paid leave to employees for reasons related to COVID-19, noting that paid sick leave not only benefited the employees, but also the community by limiting exposures. The three specifically discussed changes the ARP made to the FFCRA tax credits that allow small business owners to offer paid time off for employees to get vaccinated, and if needed, recover from the vaccination. Deputy Secretary also noted that the ARP extends the paid sick and family leave tax credit for wages paid through September 31, 2021; increased the tax credit for the number of weeks that an employee can seek paid family leave to 12 weeks from 10 weeks; and resets the amount of the tax credit available to small- and mid-sized employers for employees’ FFCRA sick and family leave beginning April 1, 2021.

Deputy Secretary Adeyemo stressed his and Secretary Janet L. Yellen’s commitment to providing small businesses with the support they need to encourage employees to get vaccinated and make it to the other side of the pandemic, as well as the Biden Administration’s commitment to expanding access to paid sick and family leave.

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