California COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave in 2021
Cepideh Roufougar
In 2020, employers with employees in California were inundated with new compliance requirements brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. It seemed that another local government or the state passed a COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave requirement nearly every month. These supplemental sick leave benefits applied to employees who were not covered by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Many of the ordinances were written to sunset with the FFCRA or on Dec. 31, 2020.
Now that the leave requirements of the FFCRA (and by extension, California state required supplemental sick leave) have expired, many local agencies are reviewing the supplemental sick leave ordinances that were adopted in 2020. Some agencies have extended the date by which employees may use benefits so that the ordinances have survived beyond the expiration of the FFCRA. Others have expanded the scope of local ordinances to provide for leave for all employees who work in that jurisdiction, not just employees who were previously excluded from the FFCRA.
The following is a list of the current local supplemental paid sick leave ordinances, including its current expiration date and any revised scope.
Locality |
Current Expiration Date |
Eligible Employees |
| City of Los Angeles | Until two calendar weeks after the expiration of the COVID-19 local emergency period | Employees who perform work within the City of Los Angeles for an employer with 500 or more employees in the City or 2,000 nationally, except that following employees are excluded from coverage:
|
| County of Los Angeles
(applies to unincorporated areas of the county only) |
Until two calendar weeks after the expiration of the COVID-19 local emergency period |
Employees who perform work within the unincorporated areas of the County of Los Angeles
|
| City of Long Beach | To be determined based on information reports provided by the City Manager to the City Council every 90 days | Employees who perform work within the geographic boundaries of the City of Long Beach for an employer with 500 or more employees, except that Healthcare providers, Emergency responders, and Government employees are excluded from coverage |
| City of Oakland | Until after the expiration of the City’s Declaration of COVID-19 Emergency | Employees who are entitled to minimum wage under the Labor Code and who work at least two hours within the geographic boundaries of the City of Oakland, except that employees of an employer with less than 50 employees are excluded from coverage unless they work for an unregistered janitorial service or franchise; also excluded from coverage are healthcare providers and emergency responders |
| City of Sacramento | Mar. 31, 2021 | Employees who work within the City of Sacramento for an employer with 500 or more employees nationally, except that healthcare providers and emergency responders are excluded from coverage |
| County of Sacramento
(applies to unincorporated areas of the county only) |
Mar. 31, 2021 | Employees who perform work within the unincorporated area of the county for an employer who has 500 or more employees nationally, except that healthcare providers and emergency responders are excluded from coverage |
| City and County of San Francisco | Feb. 11, 2021, unless extended | Employees who perform work in the geographic boundaries of the City and County of San Francisco for an employer with more than 500 employees nationwide; healthcare providers and emergency responders may be limited in their use of the leave. |
| City of San Jose | Jun. 30, 2021 | Employees perform at least two hours of work within the geographic boundaries of the City of San Jose |
| County of San Mateo (applies to unincorporated areas of the county only) | Jun. 30, 2021 | Employees who perform work within the geographic boundaries of unincorporated areas of the County of San Mateo for an employer with 500 or more employees nationally, except that healthcare providers, aviation security workers, and emergency responders are excluded from coverage |
All of the recent extensions of supplemental paid sick leave, such as Oakland and San Jose, specify that the changes and extensions made do not provide for a new or refreshing bank of time. Employees who already exhausted their leave entitlements under one of the supplemental paid sick leave mandates, including the FFCRA, do not receive a new bank of hours for 2021.
The City of Santa Rosa is scheduled to vote to extend its supplemental paid sick leave on Feb. 2, 2021. If approved the amended ordinance will extend the supplemental paid sick leave requirement until Mar. 31, 2021, for employers in the city of Santa Rosa.
***This article originally appeared on the Jackson Lewis’ Disability, Leave & Health Management blog and was reposted on the DMEC website with their permission.***