Are stay-at-home and shelter-in-place orders the same as quarantine or isolation orders? If so, when can I take leave under the FFCRA for reasons relating to one of those orders?

es, for purposes of the FFCRA, a Federal, State, or local quarantine or isolation order includes shelter-in-place or stay-at-home orders, issued by any Federal, State, or local government authority. However, in order for such an order to qualify you for leave, being subject to the order must be the reason you are unable to perform work (or telework) that your employer has for you. You may not take paid leave due to such an order if your employer does not have work for you to perform as a result of the order or for other reasons.

For example, if you are prohibited from leaving a containment zone and your employer remains open outside the containment zone and has work you cannot perform because you cannot leave the containment zone, you may take paid leave under the FFCRA. Similarly, if you are ordered to stay at home by a government official for fourteen days because you were on a cruise ship where other passengers tested positive for COVID-19, and your employer has work for you to do, you are also entitled to paid sick leave if you cannot work (or telework) because of the order. If, however, your employer closed one or more locations because of a quarantine or isolation order and, as a result of that closure, there was no work for you to perform, you are not entitled to leave under the FFCRA and should seek unemployment compensation through your State Unemployment Insurance Office.

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