OHIO, USA — Jillian McCreight worked full-time as a school aide during the day as well as in the after-school program. She did this while raising two children. But when COVID-19 hit and the schools closed, they still had her working. And she couldn’t continue at her job while supervising her own children at home.
"It would have been chaotic," she said. "I would be working in the morning, coming home at 9:30, making sure they're all set up, going back to work at 11:30, coming home at 2:00, making sure they're on track, and then going back to work. Physically, I just wasn't able to do it," she explained to 3News.
The cost of childcare was also not doable so she had a quit a job she loved. But thanks to a little know provision in the Cares Act, called the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, she was able to stay at home while receiving part of her paycheck.
The Act allows for many working parents, who are caring for a minor whose school or child care provider is closed or unavailable because of COVID-19, to take 12 weeks off of work at 2/3 their normal pay.
You can also get two weeks at full pay if you're quarantined or taking care of someone else who is quarantined.
“It was a way to make sure that working people were not forced to choose between their health and taking care of a family member and then their paychecks,” says Erin Ryan, Managing Director of the Ohio Women’s Public Policy Network.
The Labor Department has done little to advertise this, but Bob Szuter, Co-Owner of Wolf’s Ridge Brewing made sure his employees knew.
"It's a step right now in the right direction of saying, ‘Hey, don't worry about this. We'll make sure you're taken care of’,” he said.
In fact, he offered paid leave before the provision, a rarity in the service industry. He says, expanding it is worth it as keeps employees healthy and has led to low turnover.
“It puts the burden on smaller companies to do this, though it's offset by a credit for employer's taxes,” he told us. “From a business perspective, I think that it's hugely helpful…especially in a time like this, when you need them to kind of step up and do different things,” he says.
And it's a game changer for those who couldn't otherwise afford to stay home, but have no choice other than to quit, like Jillian.
"I would have to work opposite shifts than my husband. We can't afford child care,” she said.
Now, the Act only covers people working for companies with more than fifty employees and less than five hundred. It also excludes most first responders and healthcare workers, which is why some advocacy groups say it doesn't go far enough.