By Jim Boyd of the Cook County Chamber of Commerce - October 29, 2020

Many questions have been asked about workers who are urged to quarantine for two weeks because they might possibly have been infected with the COVID-19 virus. We’ve been discussing this lately because some folks who are urged to quarantine are questioning the need and expressing their desire to continue working.

Their concern is understandable. But the truth of the matter, public health experts tell us, is that quarantining is the surest way to halt the spread of the virus. And, health experts emphasize, even if you take a test for the virus, you still need to finish out that 14 days of quarantine. Isolation of those who might be infected is the surest means of keeping everyone safe.

To alleviate concern over quarantining, we have asked state officials what sort of assistance is available to workers who do go into 14-days of recommended isolation. They describe a sort of hierarchy of benefits. Here is what we have learned:

1.      If  you quarantine, you are entitled to two weeks or 80 hours of sick leave if you work for an employer covered by requirements of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Basically, all private employers with less than 500 employees are covered by the Act. And employers will be reimbursed by the federal government for the cost of that sick leave. Here is a federal website with information on this: https://bityl.co/4Dtv

The one caution state officials offered about the FFCRA reimbursable sick leave is that the Act expires on Dec. 31.

 2.      If you are not covered by the  FFCRA, state officials suggest exploring whether you might have other leave coming that might be tapped to ensure you do not suffer a loss of income for two weeks.

3.      If neither #1 nor #2 covers your loss in wages, you ARE eligible to collect unemployment compensation, which will pay you about half of your lost wages. And during the pandemic, the normal first waiting week without benefits has been waived. You can receive unemployment benefits for both weeks of your quarantine.

 None of this cancels out the inconvenience and dislocation that result from someone leaving their job for two weeks. But it should help minimize the loss of wages.