With the DC focus on the next iteration of COVID-19 legislative relief, one could easily forget the earlier economic stimulus laws and their implementation, but the courts this week kept the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) in the forefront.  The FFCRA made as many as 61 million workers eligible for paid sick leave and emergency family leave resulting from the pandemic. In a Manhattan courtroom, US District Court Judge Paul Oetken ruled that the Department of Labor had overstepped its authority when it determined that work had to be otherwise available to an employee in order for that worker to be eligible for Emergency Paid Sick Leave (EPSL). Additionally, the court struck provisions in DOL regulations that required workers to get the employer’s consent for the use of Emergency Paid Sick Leave on an intermittent basis for reasons unrelated to COVID-19 and that the worker must provide documentation requesting EPSL before beginning the leave. At present, the applicability of the ruling outside the Southern New York District remains to be seen.