Enacting the Cares Act: Covid-19 and the Working Mom (Part I)

Real Work Wife aims to bring awareness to different issues confronting working moms. The effects of Covid-19 have been extremely hard for a lot of families. This is such a story. This mom has been required to balance virtual school and work while enacting the Cares Act. 

Out of respect for this mother, her identity will remain confidential.

"I have 2 small, elementary aged children, 5 and 7 years old. The 2020-21 school year was their first year at a new school. So virtual learning for us was extra fresh. In the beginning, things were hard with virtual learning. The teacher spent most of the time explaining to the kids how to work the TEAMs platform. The kids were at different levels. Some of them caught on quickly, while others still struggle now. We, as a family, were bogged down. There were assignments that needed to be completed and classwork that needed to be done. Homework duty began to last 2-3 hours per night. I feared how that was affecting their learning. 

I first found out I was eligible for the CARES Act from my employer. They sent emails and hung posters around the office. I reached out to my HR and completed an application. The CARES Act is like an extension of FMLA and there are also certain requirements the employer must meet as well. Since I hadn't used any time for FLMA, I had 12 weeks I could use towards the CARES Act. It gave you 2 options: continuous leave or intermittent leave."

To be continue...
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