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Extended COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave

On January 25, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom and the California legislature announced that they have reached an agreement on a legislative framework that will allow employees to continue to have access to COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave through September 30, 2022.

As detailed in our March 22, 2021 briefing, Bill Extends California's COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave Law, the original California COVID-19 paid sick leave law was enacted in September of 2020. That law was extended last March when Governor Newsom signed SB 95 (Chapter 13, Statutes of 2021). That law’s requirement to provide COVID-19 paid sick leave expired on September 30, 2021.

The details of the framework have not yet been released and reportedly legislative language is still being fine-tuned. However, there are some items, which we know may be included in the final bill.

We are hearing that the restoration of the supplemental paid sick leave will pay retroactive sick leave beginning as of January 1, 2022, through September 30, 2022. There is also talk that the bill will apply to employers with 26 or more employees and may cover up to 40 hours of sick time if an employee must quarantine but has not yet tested, and another 40 hours if the employee has tested positive for COVID-19 and needs to isolate. Additionally, employers may be expected to cover the costs this time around as the previous supplemental leave was funded in part by federal funding, which has now expired. The framework includes the restoring of business tax credits, tax relief for recipients of federal relief grants for restaurants and shuttered venues, and additional funding for the Small Business COVID-19 Relief Program. Those proposed business tax credits and tax deductions may help ease the cost for businesses to cover the paid sick leave, but will not impact public employers that are subject to the same leave requirements.

Once bill language is finalized and the details released, we will update clients on the details.

About Amy Donovan
Amy is AP Keenan's Vice President of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, authoring the firm's Briefings and position papers on legislation, regulation, and litigation that impact the firm and its clients.