Yes. The CARES Act waives the 10% early withdrawal penalty under Section 72(t) of the Code on distributions before age 59½ from tax-qualified retirement plans and individual retirement accounts, as long as the distribution does not exceed $100,000. In order to qualify for the waiver, the participant must fall within one of the following categories:

Coronavirus distributions are exempt from the 20% mandatory withholding requirement for retirement plan distributions. Additionally, participants can pay the tax on the distribution ratably over a three-year period unless the participant elects otherwise.

Yes. The participant’s distribution may be re-contributed to the distributing retirement plan, or to another plan, within three years after the date the distribution is received, without regard to any plan limit on contributions. If the individual does not re-contribute, the distribution within that time period, taxation on the distribution may be spread over a three-year period.

The CARES Act increased the amount that participants are able to borrow from their individual account under defined contribution plans, like 401(k) plans. Historically, the rules limited loans to the lesser of $50,000 and 50% of the participant’s vested account balance.

No. The paid leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) only apply to leaves taken on or after April 1, 2020.

Yes. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) requires you to pay an employee for hours the employee would have been normally scheduled to work even if that is more than 40 hours in a week. For example, an employee who is scheduled to work 50 hours a week may take 50 hours of paid sick leave in the first week and 30 hours of paid sick leave in the second week for the total of 80 hours of paid leave.

No. The EPSLA imposes a new leave requirement on employers that is effective beginning on April 1, 2020. If an employee was recently out on FMLA leave due to illness and now has COVID-19, the employer is required to provide paid sick leave if the employee requests the leave on or after April 1, 2020.

For purposes of the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLA), an employee is considered to have been employed for at least 30 calendar days if the employee was on the employer’s payroll for at least 30 days immediately prior to the day the leave would begin. For example, if an employee requested leave on April 1, 2020, the employee would need to have been on the employer’s payroll as of March 2, 2020. If an employee had been working for an employer as a temporary employee, and the employee is subsequently hired on a full-time basis, the days of temporary employment count toward the 30-day eligibility period.

Under the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLA), a “son or daughter” is your own minor child under the age of eighteen, which includes your biological, adopted, or foster child, your stepchild, a legal ward, or a child for whom you are standing in loco parentis—someone with day-to-day responsibilities to care for or financially support a child. A “son or daughter” also includes an adult son or daughter (i.e., one who is eighteen years of age or older), who (1) has a mental or physical disability, and (2) is incapable of self-care because of that disability.