California State
Daniel Macht | Contributed
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced a deal with legislative leaders to restore up to two weeks of supplemental paid sick leave for those ill with COVID-19, quarantining or experiencing vaccine side effects.
The benefit, which expired on Sept. 30, applies to those who work for employers with more than 25 employees.
It is aimed at people who are unable to work or telework because they caught COVID-19 or are experiencing symptoms and seeking a medical diagnosis, or caring for a child or another family member who was quarantining or self-isolating due to COVID-19. The benefit has also applied to people attending a vaccine appointment or experiencing vaccine-related side effects.
The new law would restore the benefit through Sept. 30, 2022, and be retroactively applied to Jan. 1, 2022.
Newsom announced its return as part of a slate of early budget actions, essentially new legislation to be enacted soon. The other actions include restoring business tax credits that were limited at the beginning of the pandemic and more funding for a small business COVID-19 relief grant program, as well as more money for testing capacity, booster efforts and actions to “battle misinformation.”
“California’s ability to take early budget action will protect workers and provide real relief to businesses reeling from this latest surge,” Newsom said in a joint press release with Senate President pro tempore Toni G. Atkins and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon. “Throughout this pandemic, we have come together to address the immediate impacts COVID-19 continues to have on millions of California families, both at home and at work. By extending sick leave to frontline workers with COVID and providing support for California businesses, we can help protect the health of our workforce, while also ensuring that businesses and our economy are able to thrive. We will continue to work to address additional needs of small businesses through the budget – they are the backbone of our communities and continue to be impacted by COVID-19.”
The Service Employees International Union, which had pushed for the return of COVID-19 paid sick leave, hailed the new agreement.
“Make no mistake: today’s agreement happened because workers who are on the frontlines of the pandemic demanded safety for ourselves, our families and our communities,” said Bob Schoonover, the president of SEIU California. “We spoke up about the impossible choices we faced without enough sick time to recover from COVID-19 without our kids going hungry. We know we can’t wait for employers to keep us safe – we have to advocate for ourselves, and Governor Newsom and legislators listened.”
The new law would first allow 40 hours of supplemental paid sick leave for all workers of employers of 26 or more. Forty more hours would be provided if the worker or another family member tested positive after the first 40 hours were exhausted.
Employers must pay for and provide the test. If a worker refused to take a test or show a positive test result no additional sick leave would be granted.
For those using sick leave to recover from the side effects of a COVID-19 vaccine, the worker is allowed 24 hours in that case.
The supplemental paid sick leave bill’s expiration had left workers with three annual paid sick days, under California law.
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