California Reenacts COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave
On February 9, 2022, California’s governor signed Senate Bill (SB) 114. The Bill restores California’s paid sick leave, which previously expired September 30, 2021. The agreement comes amid the omicron surge and the resulting labor shortage across the state’s workforce.
The law takes effect immediately and is retroactive to January 1, 2022, but an employer’s obligation to provide 2022 COVID-19 supplemental California paid sick leave (CPSL) does not begin until February 19, 2022. Employers can require workers to provide documentation of a positive test from January 1 forward.
One of the key negotiating points was to offset the costs to businesses, especially smaller ones. As with the previous leave, the new leave only covers employers with 26 or more workers, and the state will provide tax credits to companies.
Employers will no longer be reimbursed for the paid leave with a federal tax credit; however, businesses will be helped by restoring tax credits for research and development and net operating losses, through tax relief for recipients of federal relief grants for restaurants and shuttered venues and additional funding for more small business grants. The assistance totals $6.1 billion.
Any full-time employee of a company that has 26 or more workers is entitled to 80 hours of paid leave divided into two 40-hour banks as such:
Leave hours from the first bank will be available only if the employee tests positive for or is caring for a family member who tests positive for COVID-19.
Leave hours from the second bank will be available only for other covered reasons (quarantine or isolation, vaccine appointments or recovery, experiencing COVID symptoms and seeking medical diagnosis, closure of school or place of care for reasons related to COVID-19 on the premises). Under current health guidelines, anyone who tests positive should quarantine for five days, regardless of vaccination status.
Employees will be compensated at their regular pay rates, a maximum of $511 a day, or $5,110 total. If an employee requests to retroactively designate any time off taken since January 1, 2022 for COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave reasons, the employer must make the retroactive payment, if any, on or before the payday for the next full pay period after the employee’s request.
Next Steps: Employers should monitor the California Labor Commissioner’s webpage, COVID-19 Guidance and Resources, to learn when it publishes the mandatory poster and/or FAQ which is required to be posted in the workplace or distributed electronically. Employers should also monitor legislative and agency webpages in Long Beach, Los Angeles (City), Los Angeles (County), and Oakland where local CPSL ordinances remain in effect in 2022.