California Supplemental Sick Leave Extended

Eric De Wames, Managing Partner Employment Law Division, Michael Sullivan & Associates, LLP.

On Tuesday a deal was struck between Gov. Newsom and California lawmakers to provide a new Supplemental Sick Leave similar to the one that expired on September 30.  Although not yet in final form, here are the components we expect:

• Applies to employers with 26+ employees;
• Provides up to 2 weeks (80 hours) of paid leave to care for yourself or family with COVID and other qualifying reasons (e.g. children school closures) as the previous leave permitted;
• The first 40 hours are flexible, but to be eligible for the additional 40, proof of a positive test will be required;
• Potential tax credits for employers to absorb the financial burden;
• Retroactive to 1/1/22 – not 9/30/21;
• Expires 9/30/22.

This would be an additional 80 hours, so employees who exhausted the prior sick leave would still be eligible. These are only anticipated components to the law, but the final version is not yet available and may be quite different in its final form. We will provide a complete analysis of the law once available, which will also be included in our free e-book “Navigating COVID-19”.

Until then, take a deep breath and prepare for the latest COVID hustle to get compliant!

Eric H. De Wames is the Managing Partner of the Employment Law Department with Michael Sullivan and Associates, LLP. View Mr. De Wames full bio here.