Glossary

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act is a law passed in March 2020 that requires employers with 500 or fewer employees to provide their employees with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It requires up to 80 hours of paid sick leave at the employee's regular rate of pay when an employee is quarantined or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and seeking medical attention. If an employee needs care for an individual subject to quarantine or care for a child whose school or childcare provider is closed due to the pandemic, the employee is entitled to 80 hours of paid sick leave at two-thirds of their regular rate of pay. An additional 10 weeks of paid expanded family and medical leave at two-thirds the employee's regular rate of pay must also be provided if an employee must care for a child whose school or childcare provider is closed due to reasons related to COVID-19.

The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 is a law allowing employees to take up to 12 weeks annually of job-protected unpaid leave. Such leaves are permitted in the event of a serious illness of the employee or family member, or the birth or placement (through adoption or foster care) of a child. The law applies to employers having 50 or more employees and to employees who have worked for the employer for a minimum of 1,250 hours during the prior year. Charges of discrimination against those taking leave under the Act (or by those prevented from taking leave under the Act) can be filed with the Department of Labor, which investigates and enforces claims. In addition, an employee can sue their employer individually. Such claims are covered by employment practices liability (EPL) policies.

Family deductible refers to a type of health insurance plan deductible that is satisfied or eliminated by the combined medical expenses of all family members covered by the plan.

The family exclusion is found within directors and officers (D&O) liability policies written to cover privately held companies. The exclusion precludes coverage for claims made by one family member/insured against another family member/insured. The family exclusion's intent is to preclude coverage for claims involving either collusion or infighting. However, to broaden coverage, underwriters will sometimes agree to modify the exclusion so that only claims from members of the same generation are excluded. The effect of this modification would, therefore, be to allow coverage if, for instance, a son were to sue a grandfather or a daughter were to sue a father. In such instances, it is likely (especially when a member of the younger generation sues) that the younger generation will not have control of the business and may, in fact, be suing to prevent gross mismanagement of a family enterprise. Thus, when a member of a different, and typically younger, generation brings a claim, the possibility that it involves collusion or infighting is substantially reduced, which is why underwriters sometimes agree to this modification.

Family income life insurance refers to a life insurance policy that combines whole life with decreasing term insurance. In the event of the insured's death prior to a specified date, the beneficiary is paid a monthly income benefit. If the insured lives beyond the specified date, the full face amount of the policy is paid to the beneficiary. This policy is designed to protect a family with young children.

Family life insurance refers to a life insurance policy that combines whole life with term life insurance to cover family members in a single policy. Coverage for the principal is whole life, while the spouse and children are insured on a term basis for a lesser amount.

A farmers personal liability endorsement (found under a homeowners form) covers farm liability exposures but only if (1) farming is not the insured's primary occupation, and (2) the farm is away from the residence's premises. Coverage under this endorsement can be extended to employers liability, including medical payments for farm employees of any insured.

A farm mutual is a member-owned, state-regulated mutual insurance company that operates under specific state law to serve its members' insurance needs. Often with roots in local or agricultural communities, farm mutuals were originally established to provide insurance coverage for farmers, agricultural property, and rural communities. Rather than being distributed to shareholders, any profits are typically returned to policyholders through dividends, reduced premiums, or enhanced services. Farm mutuals have expanded to also offer coverage for homes, businesses, automobiles, and other property risks beyond traditional farming operations.

Farmowners insurance, sometimes referred to as farm insurance, provides homeowners, commercial property, and commercial liability coverage. The unique combination of commercial and personal coverages is necessary because it is typical for farms to have both residential and commercial characteristics. Coverage can apply to farms or ranches. These types of policies typically pertain to family and individually operated farms, not large commercial or corporate farming operations. Some farm coverages may be written on a monoline basis.

A farm umbrella policy provides high limits of liability to protect an insured farmer against a catastrophic liability loss. This policy grants liability coverage that stacks on top of the primary liability coverage provided by the insured farmer's farmowners policy, personal auto, and any other scheduled underlying liability policy. It covers bodily injury (BI), property damage (PD), and personal injury (PI), which includes offenses such as libel, slander, false arrest, and invasion of privacy. The farm umbrella policy also fills some gaps in coverage over a specified deductible (often called a retained limit) in the underlying policy.