On March 19, 2021, Gov. Newsom signed SB 95 expanding and resetting Covid-19 related supplemental paid sick leave in California. This bill provides Covid-19-related supplemental paid sick leave to those who are unable to work or telework due to Covid-19. This bill applies to employers with more than 25 employees. It should be noted that this sick leave applies retroactively to January 1, 2021, and applies until September 30, 2021.
SB 95, states, in part:
...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....