body: Apparently, a new [coronavirus related paid family leave law](https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/19/upshot/coronavirus-paid-leave-guide.html) takes effect on 04/01/2020. I understand that, among commercial companies, it applies only to those under 500 employees (because, of course, companies that can afford lobbying cannot be burdened, but that's unrelated to the question.) The questions I have regarding that law:
  
  
  1) Does the new extended leave law apply to federal employees? More specifically, my wife works for Veterans' Affairs, and we'd like to figure out whether she qualifies. On one hand, VA has more than 500 employees, but on the other hand, VA is not a commercial company, and I don't see in the reports specifics regarding the government employees.
  
  
  2) Would a mother of small children qualify for paid family leave to watch them while the schools are closed? This has become quite an issue as soon as the schools closed for the year.
  
  
  
title: Does the "Family First Coronavirus Response Act" cover federal employees?