Paid Sick Leave

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Chicago’s recent enactment of its Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance (“Ordinance”) marks some of the country’s most progressive paid time off legislation and also imposes robust requirements upon Chicago employers. On November 9, 2023, Chicago’s City Council passed the Ordinance, effective December 31, 2023, touting it as a benefit to low-wage workers previously lacking vacation time.Continue Reading Chicago’s Paid Leave and Paid Sick and Safe Leave Ordinance Ushers in Some of the Nation’s Most Generous Employee Leave Entitlements

On October 4, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 616 into law, which amends the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 by increasing the number of paid sick days (or hours) employees are entitled to each year. The law, which will take effect on January 1, 2024, will increase paid sick leave for employees from three days (or 24 hours) to five days (or 40 hours), whichever is greater, within a 12-month period. The law will specifically amend Labor Code sections 245.5, 246, and 246.5.Continue Reading California Employers Must Provide Additional Paid Sick Leave in 2024

Last year New York state and local legislatures implemented a number of employment laws and ordinances that are set to take effect in 2023. This update summarizes these new legal requirements to help New York employers prepare for 2023.Continue Reading New Year, New Rules for Employers Doing Business in New York in 2023

The Bill

The Expansion of California Family Rights Act, AB 1041, was signed into law by Governor Newsom on September 29, 2022. AB 1041 expands the class of people for whom an employee may take leave to care for under the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) to include a “designated person.” AB 1041 also expands the term “family member” under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act (“HWHFA”), which governs paid sick day leave, to include “designated person.”Continue Reading Who Is a “Designated Person”? Changes to California’s Medical Leave

In February 2022, California enacted Senate Bill (“SB”) 114, which created California Labor Code section 248.6 to provide COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (“CSPSL”) to covered employees. CSPSL was due to expire on September 30, 2022. On September 29, 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill (“AB”) 152, which (1) extends CSPSL through December 31, 2022, (2) provides employers the ability to require an additional diagnostic test before employees use CSPSL in certain circumstances, and (3) creates a grant program to assist qualified small business and nonprofits with grants for costs incurred for CSPSL provided in 2022.Continue Reading California Immediately Expands COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Through 2022

San Francisco employers will soon be required to comply with an additional Ordinance providing San Francisco-based employees with paid leave during future public health emergencies. In the June 7, 2022 election, San Francisco voters passed Proposition G. It requires employers with 100 or more employees worldwide to provide up to 80 hours of paid public health emergency leave to San Francisco-based employees. The Ordinance will become operative on October 1, 2022. Continue Reading San Francisco Ordinance Requires Employers to Provide Paid Public Health Emergency Leave

We previously described the “framework” for an agreement to reinstate California’s Supplemental Paid Sick Leave.  Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill (“SB”) 114 into law on February 9, 2022.  The specifics of the bill are summarized below.

Author’s Note: The prior version of this article noted SB 114 required employers to list the amount of CSPSL used by an employee during a given pay period.  SB 114 can be interpreted to require that wage statements list both available and used CSPSL.  The wage statement section has been updated to reflect best practices in light of the ambiguity in the law.Continue Reading California Reinstates COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave

On January 25, 2022, Governor Gavin Newson announced a “framework” for an agreement to reactivate California’s COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (“COVID PSL”) law for the period from January 1, 2022 to September 30, 2022.  California employers should assume this agreement will become law in some form and prepare accordingly to re-institute supplemental paid sick leave for their California employees in the near term.
Continue Reading California Likely to Soon Implement COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave, Retroactive to January 1, 2022

UPDATE: this law became effective on December 24, 2021, retroactive to November 2, 2021.

As previously discussed in our December 10, 2021 article, the New York City Council passed a bill requiring New York City employers to provide employees who are parents or legal guardians of a child with four hours of paid COVID-19 child vaccination time, per injection and per child (“Child Vaccination Leave”).  The bill amended New York City’s Earned Sick and Safe Time Act, and became effective on December 24, 2021.  The bill went into effect 30 days after it was passed by the New York City Council on November 23, 2021, and is retroactive to November 2, 2021 when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in children aged 5 to 11 years old.Continue Reading UPDATED: NYC Council Passes Bill Granting Paid Sick Leave to Parents Vaccinating Children Against COVID-19

On December 14, 2021, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors unanimously passed legislation providing domestic workers with paid sick leave – the first of its kind in the United States.  The ordinance, called “Domestic Workers’ Equal Access to Paid Sick Leave,” establishes a “portable” paid sick leave benefit that allows people who work for multiple households to earn and consolidate benefits from several “hiring entities” and access that paid leave as they move between jobs.
Continue Reading San Francisco Passes Measure Requiring Sick Leave for Domestic Workers – “First of Its Kind”

On November 23, 2021, the New York City Council passed a bill requiring New York City employers to provide employees who are parents or legal guardians of a child with four hours of paid COVID-19 child vaccination time, per injection and per child (“Child Vaccination Leave”).  The bill amends New York City’s Earned Sick and Safe Time Act, and is currently awaiting Mayor de Blasio’s signature.  The legislation is retroactive to November 2, 2021 when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to authorize the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in children aged 5 to 11 years old.
Continue Reading NYC Council Passes Bill Granting Paid Sick Leave to Parents Vaccinating Children Against COVID-19