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As of January 2021, providing FFCRA paid leave is optional. Employers choosing to provide FFCRA Paid Leave to their employees on a voluntary basis can now receive a payroll tax credit to cover the wages paid through September 30, 2021 (subject to applicable caps). 

Last year, in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Congress passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which mandated that most employers with fewer than 500 employees provide their workers with paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave for COVID-19 related reasons. In doing so, employers received payroll tax credits for providing the paid leave. FFCRA’s mandate ended on December 31, 2020.

Congress extended the FFCRA through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 to March 31, 2021 on a voluntary basis to those employers who provided paid leave to qualified employees. Employers voluntarily providing paid leave could continue to receive a tax credit for the wages. On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law another COVID-19 federal stimulus package, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). The ARPA extends the FFCRA and the employer tax credits through September 30, 2021 on a voluntary basis. The ARPA also adds qualifying reasons for paid leave.Continue Reading Congress extends payroll tax credits to employers voluntarily providing FFCRA paid leave and expands leave provisions

On May 12, 2020, Oakland passed an emergency ordinance joining Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Jose in requiring employers to provide paid sick leave to employees for COVID-19-related reasons.  Codified as Code of Ordinances Chapter 5.94 and known as the “Protecting Workers and Communities During a Pandemic – COVID-19 Emergency Paid Sick Leave Ordinance” (Emergency Paid Sick Leave), Oakland’s new paid sick leave requirements aim to fill the gaps in the coverage provided by the federal Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA).

Covered employers

Unlike the FFCRA, which only applies to employers with fewer than 500 employees, Oakland’s new paid sick leave requirements apply to all private employers, regardless of the number of employees, but subject to the exemptions noted below.  Covered employers must pay the Emergency Paid Sick Leave payment by no later than the payday for the next regular payroll period after the employee takes Emergency Paid Sick Leave, and no more than 14 days after the employee takes Emergency Paid Sick Leave.
Continue Reading Oakland passes COVID-19 paid sick leave

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has had, and will continue to have, a substantial impact on the U.S. workplace. Please click here for a series of FAQs we have compiled based on some of the more common questions that clients with U.S.-based employees have posed to us within the past few weeks.

These FAQs are general…

On April 7, 2020, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the Public Health Emergency Leave Ordinance (PHELO) to expand paid sick leave and emergency family medical leave benefits in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  That ordinance was not signed and enacted by Mayor Breed, and the Board of Supervisors has now passed an amended version of the ordinance (Amended PHELO), on April 14, 2020, which is awaiting the mayor’s signature.  Although the Amended PHELO is substantially similar to the previous version, it includes three key changes in that it (1) expands the definition of covered employees; (2) clarifies the calculation and availability of leave; and (3) modifies leave guaranteed to health care providers and emergency responders.
Continue Reading San Francisco Board of Supervisors approves amended paid sick leave ordinance in response to COVID-19 pandemic

On April 7, 2020, San Francisco, California and San Jose, California passed emergency ordinances to expand paid sick leave and emergency family medical leave benefits.  The ordinances cover gaps under federal law by expanding leave benefits under the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the Act), which is limited to employers with fewer than 500 employees, to employers with more than 500 employees.  Under the ordinances, employers must provide to each employee paid sick time to the extent that the employee is unable to work or telework because:

  1. The employee is subject to quarantine or isolation by federal, state, or local order due to COVID-19, or is caring for someone who is quarantined or isolated due to COVID-19.
  2. The employee is advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to COVID-19 or is caring for someone who is so advised by a health care provider.
  3. The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and is seeking medical diagnosis.
  4. The employee is caring for a minor child because a school or daycare is closed due to COVID-19.

Continue Reading San Francisco and San Jose expand paid sick leave in response to COVID-19 outbreak

Please see an updated version of our FAQs as of April 18, 2020. 

The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has had, and will continue to have, a substantial impact on the U.S. workplace. Please click here for a series of FAQs we have compiled based on some of the more common questions that clients with U.S.-based employees…

On March 16, 2020, San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed announced a Workers and Families First Program to provide additional paid sick leave benefits for employees affected by COVID-19.  The plan includes $10 million in funding that will allow businesses to provide an additional five days of sick leave pay beyond their existing policies.

All…

On October 10, 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom officially signed a bill expanding protected leave rights under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) to flight crew employees. We covered this issue in more detail here. The new law will allow flight crew employees to be eligible for CFRA protected leave with certain conditions.

The California Legislature has recently passed a new bill to expand the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) to flight deck and cabin crew employees (pilots and flight attendants). The new bill conforms California’s CFRA to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) with regard to protected leave.

Currently under the CFRA, employees are eligible to take up to 12 weeks of paid or unpaid protected leave during a 12-month period for the birth or adoption of a child, to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition, or when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.Continue Reading California legislature passes expansion of CFRA rights for flight crew employees