Employment: COVID-19: supplemental paid sick leave.

Existing law, the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, entitles an employee who works in California for the same employer for 30 or more days within a year from the commencement of employment to paid sick days. Under existing law, an employee accrues paid sick days at a rate of not less than one hour per every 30 hours worked, subject to certain use, accrual, and yearly carryover limitations. Existing law requires the Labor Commissioner to enforce the act and provides for procedures, including investigation and hearing, and for remedies and penalties. Existing law, until December 31, 2020, provided for COVID-19 food sector supplemental paid sick leave for food sector workers and required a hiring entity to provide COVID-19 food sector supplemental paid sick leave, as described, to each food sector worker unable to work due to specified reasons relating to COVID-19. Existing law also established, until December 31, 2020, COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave for covered workers, including certain persons employed by private businesses of 500 or more employees or persons employed as certain types of health care providers or emergency responders by public or private entities. This bill would provide for COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave for covered employees, as defined, who are unable to work or telework due to certain reasons related to COVID-19, including that the employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19. The bill would entitle a covered employee to 80 hours of COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave if that employee either works full time or was scheduled to work, on average, at least 40 hours per week for the employer in the 2 weeks preceding the date the covered employee took COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave. The bill would provide a different calculation for supplemental paid sick leave for a covered employee who is a firefighter subject to certain work schedule requirements and for a covered employee working fewer or variable hours, as specified. The bill would provide that the total number of hours of COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave to which a covered employee is entitled to under these provisions is in addition to any paid sick leave available under the act, as specified. This bill would set the compensation rate for a nonexempt covered employee at the highest of the covered employee's regular rate of pay for the pay period in which the supplemental paid sick leave is taken, the state minimum wage, or the local minimum wage to which the covered employee is entitled, up to certain daily and aggregate total maximum payment limits and subject to specified federal law increases. The bill would prohibit an employer from requiring a covered employee to use other paid or unpaid leave, paid time off, or vacation time provided by the employer to the covered employee before that employee uses COVID-19 supplemental paid leave or in lieu thereof, except in certain circumstances in which the employer provides another supplemental benefit for leave for COVID-19, as prescribed. The bill would require the Labor Commissioner to enforce these COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave provisions, as provided. The bill would also require the Labor Commissioner to make publicly available a model notice relating to COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave. This bill would also provide for COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave for specified in-home supportive service providers and personal waiver care service providers, as defined, who are unable to work or telework due to certain reasons related to COVID-19. Under the bill, a provider would be entitled to COVID-19 supplemental paid leave if, among other reasons, the provider is subject to a quarantine or isolation period related to COVID-19 pursuant to an order or guidelines of the State Department of Public Health, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or a local health officer, or has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19. The bill would entitle a provider to up to 80 hours of COVID-19 supplemental paid leave, if the provider worked or was scheduled to work, on average, at least 40 hours per week, as specified, or met certain other work conditions. The bill would set the compensation rate for this supplemental paid sick leave, as specified. The bill would authorize the State Department of Social Services and the State Department of Health Care Services to implement, interpret, or make these provisions specific by means of all-county letters or similar instructions, without taking any regulatory action. The bill would make these requirements, with respect to covered employees, in-home supportive service providers, and personal waiver care service providers, to provide COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave take effect 10 days after the date of enactment of the bill and would apply these provisions retroactively to January 1, 2021, as specified. The bill would provide that the requirement to provide COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave would apply until September 30, 2021, as specified. This bill would appropriate $100,000 from the General Fund to the Labor Commissioner for staffing resources to implement and enforce these provisions. This bill would declare that it is to take effect immediately as a bill providing for appropriations related to the Budget Bill.