On May 3, 2021, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) released updated public health recommendations advising that fully vaccinated non-healthcare workers can refrain from quarantining after a known workplace exposure to COVID-19, but only if they are asymptomatic.
On April 16, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 93 into law. This new statute creates California Labor Code Section 2810.8 and requires that employers in certain industries make written job offers to employees whom they laid off because of COVID-19. Employees have five business days to respond and, if more than
On March 2, 2021, the City Council of San Diego, California, extended the “COVID-19 Worker Recall and Retention Ordinance” (O-21231/O-2021-20). The ordinance provides certain rights and preferences to hotel and janitorial workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ordinance originally took effect on September 8, 2020, and was set to expire on March 8, 2021. However, given the extraordinary loss of jobs in San Diego in the building services, leisure, and hospitality industries, the city council opted to extend the ordinance’s sunset provision until March 8, 2022, by way of an emergency ordinance (O-21296/O-2021-97).
On March 16, 2021, the City Council of Costa Mesa, California, passed an urgency ordinance establishing premium pay for retail grocery and pharmacy workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Costa Mesa is a large city in Orange County located southeast of Los Angeles. The ordinance requires that large retail establishments that sell groceries or prescription and nonprescription drugs in Costa Mesa provide their workers with premium pay of $4.00 for each hour worked. The ordinance took effect immediately and will expire 120 days from its effective date.
Beginning March 29, 2021, California employers with more than 25 employees nationally will have to pay their California employees with up to 80 hours of COVID-19–related paid leave. On March 19, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 95, which creates new California Labor Code Sections 248.2 and Section 248.3.
Within days, California employers may have to provide employees with even more COVID-19–related paid leave. On March 18, 2021, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 95, which creates new Labor Code Section 248.2 and Labor Code Section 248.3. These new Labor Code sections provide covered employees and in-home supportive service providers with up to 80 new hours of COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave. As explained below, the bill is far more expansive than the California COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave statute that expired on December 31, 2020. The new legislation covers more employers and requires paid sick leave for many more reasons. If Governor Newsom signs SB 95, the law will take effect 10 days later and expire on September 30, 2021, unless extended.
On March 4, 2021, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) updated its “DFEH Employment Information on COVID-19” to include answers to some of the frequently asked questions (FAQs) about vaccinations.
On March 15, 2021, the City Council of West Hollywood added new categories of workers to its existing hero pay mandate of $5.00 per hour worked for large-chain grocery store employees. The new ordinance goes into effect on April 16, 2021, and expires on August 16, 2021.
The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) recently updated its “Guide to COVID-19 Related Frequently Asked Questions [FAQs]” to include wage and hour issues and vaccinations.
On March 1, 2021, the City Council of San Mateo, California, adopted “An Emergency Ordinance Requiring Large Grocery Stores and Large Drugstores to Provide Hazard Pay to their Employees” to ease the burdens caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. San Mateo is an incorporated city located in the San Francisco Bay Area.
On March 1, 2021, the City Council of Pomona, California, passed an ordinance that establishes premium pay for retail food workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pomona is an incorporated city located in Los Angeles County and is not subject to the county’s hero pay ordinance.
On March 2, 2021, the City Council of Santa Ana, California, passed an urgency ordinance establishing premium pay for grocery and retail pharmacy workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Santa Ana is the county seat of Orange County, located southeast of Los Angeles.
On February 25, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California denied a motion for preliminary injunction brought by the California Grocers Association (CGA) against the City of Long Beach. In California Grocers Association v. City of Long Beach, CGA asked the court to stop the city from enforcing its Premium Pay for Grocery Workers Ordinance, one of the many “hero pay” or “hazard pay” ordinances enacted by California localities in the past several weeks.
On February 16, 2021, the City Council of San Leandro, California, passed an ordinance titled “Retail Food Worker Hazard Pay Ordinance,” which establishes premium pay for retail food workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. San Leandro is an incorporated city located in Alameda County in the San Francisco Bay Area.
On February 23, 2021, the City Council of Irvine, California, passed a hero pay ordinance entitling retail grocery store and drug store workers premium pay for hours worked during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On February 16, 2021, the City Council of West Hollywood, California, passed an urgency ordinance establishing premium pay for grocery workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On January 27, 2021, the City Council of Montebello, California, passed an ordinance titled “Premium Pay for Grocery and Drug Store Workers Ordinance.” Montebello is an incorporated city located in Los Angeles County, California. The ordinance requires employers to provide grocery and drug store workers with premium pay of $4.00 for each hour worked. The ordinance took effect immediately and expires in 180 days, unless otherwise extended.
On February 10, 2021, the City Council of Coachella, California, passed the “Premium Pay for Agricultural, Grocery, Restaurant, and Retail Pharmacy Workers Ordinance.” Coachella is located in Riverside County, California. Other cities in the state that have enacted similar measures in 2021 include Montebello, in Los Angeles County, and Oakland, in Alameda County.
On February 2, 2021, the City Council of Oakland, California, passed the “Grocery Worker Hazard Pay Emergency Ordinance” to provide a boost in pay for frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
On February 9, 2021, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted to extend the time period for employees to use San Francisco Public Health Emergency Leave. The Board first enacted the Public Health Emergency Leave Ordinance (PHELO) on April 17, 2020, and has continued to extend it for subsequent periods of approximately 60 days each extension. The mayor has approved each of the prior extensions and must approve this one as well. If she does, the ordinance will expire 61 days later.
On January 8, 2021, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) released an updated version of its frequently asked questions (FAQs) guidance, entitled “COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards Frequently Asked Questions,” which includes information about COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards. The FAQs address a number of issues about COVID-19 testing and outbreak procedures and processes.
On January 8, 2021, the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) issued an updated version of its frequently asked questions (FAQs) guidance, “COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards Frequently Asked Questions,” about COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standards. The FAQs address many issues about which employers had questions, including paid time off and exclusion pay.
On December 16, 2020, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) issued Order of the Health Officer No. C19-17 due to a surge in COVID-19 cases that the department said could quickly “overwhelm hospitals” in the county, as well as the rest of California, unless the City took measures to try to control the virus’ spread. With some exceptions, the order requires “every person who travels to, moves to, or returns to the County [of San Francisco] after having been in any location outside of the Bay Area” to quarantine for a period of 10 days (240 hours) from a person’s time of arrival in the county.
On November 19, 2020, the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board, the standards-setting agency of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), adopted an emergency standard regarding COVID-19 workplace prevention. The Standards Board submitted the new final rule to the Office of Administrative Law, which may approve the rule within as few as 10 days. This means employers may have to comply with the emergency standard as soon as Monday, November 30, 2020.
On September 28, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 2992, which amends California Labor Code Sections 230 and 230.1 and prohibits an employer from “discharging, or discriminating or retaliating against, an employee who is a victim of crime or abuse[,] for taking time off from work to obtain or attempt to obtain relief.”
On October 6, 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) once again revised its list of individuals whose risk factors make them more likely to develop severe illness from COVID-19.
On September 30, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 1512, which amends California Labor Code Section 226.7 by authorizing employers to require certain unionized private security officers “to remain on the premises during rest periods and to remain on call, and carry and monitor a communication device, during rest periods.”
On September 1, 2020, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors passed the Sacramento County Worker Protection, Health, and Safety Act of 2020. The county appears to have modeled its new law on the City of Sacramento’s own recent Worker Protection, Health, and Safety Act (WPHSA), which the city enacted on June 30, 2020. The two laws are nearly identical, providing employees with paid sick leave for certain COVID-19–related reasons, allowing workers to refuse to work in certain situations, and prohibiting employer retaliation. Here are answers to some several frequently asked questions about the measures.
On September 17, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill No. 1383, which repealed the current California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and eliminated the California New Parent Leave Act, replacing those statutes with a new CFRA, which can be found at California Government Code Section 12945.2, et seq.
On September 17, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (AB) 685 into law, enacting California Labor Code Section 6409.6 and amending other state statutes. As explained further below, Section 6409.6 obligates employers to notify employees, the employees’ exclusive representative (such as a union), and subcontractors, within one business day of an employer’s receiving notice of a potential COVID-19 workplace exposure from a “qualifying individual.”
