44 | 2023 Cal-Peculiarities ©2023 Seyfarth Shaw LLP www.seyfarth.com employees. The only exception for otherwise covered employers is for employees subject to a collective bargaining agreement that expressly waives PHEL in clear and unambiguous terms. As of February 28, 2023, San Francisco no longer includes Covid-19 as a declared public health emergency.165 However, employees must receive their PHEL allotment at the beginning of each calendar year, or the start of their employment, regardless of whether there is an ongoing public health emergency. Employers must provide notice of the amount of PHEL available to each employee on a wage statement or another writing. If the employer offers unlimited paid leave or paid time off, the employer must note “unlimited” on employees’ wage statements.166Berkeley. Berkeley’s PSL ordinance became effective in 2017.167 This ordinance, like San Francisco’s, requires an accrual rate of one hour per 30 hours worked. Employers are covered regardless of location if they have employees who work two or more hours a week within Berkeley city limits. Small businesses (fewer than 25 employees) may cap accrual of paid sick leave at 48 hours as well as limit use of paid sick leave to 48 hours within a calendar year. Employers with 25 or more employees may cap accrual of paid sick leave at 72 hours but may not limit use of paid sick leave. As is the case with the San Francisco ordinance, PSL begins to accrue at the time of hire, and can be used beginning on the 90th day of employment. Employers can front-load paid sick leave at the beginning of each year as long as employees can accrue additional leave after working enough hours to have accrued the amount that is front-loaded. Berkeley employees can add a designated person to the category of covered family members. After an initial use of one hour, sick time can be used in 15-minute increments. Sick leave need not be cashed out upon termination of employment, but sick leave must be restored if the employee is rehired within 12 months. Employers must, each pay period, report on a wage statement or other written notice how much paid sick leave time employees have accrued. Emeryville. Emeryville’s PSL ordinance168 is part of a minimum wage law, similar to the Oakland and City of Los Angeles ordinances discussed below. The Emeryville PSL ordinance covers employers regardless of location if their employees work at least two hours a week within Emeryville city limits. The basic entitlement is a maximum of 48 PSL hours for employees of small businesses (55 or fewer employees within Emeryville city limits) and 72 hours for employees of large businesses (56 or more employees within Emeryville city limits). Employers may establish a more generous cap or use no cap. In any given year, employees may use PSL up to the applicable maximum. Front-loading the entire annual amount is allowed and in that event no carryover is required. If PSL is accrued rather than front-loaded, then the standard accrual applies: one hour of PSL for every 30 hours of work. Emeryville defines “family member” to include a designated individual if the employee has no spouse or registered domestic partner (but to the extent state law is more generous, state law applies). In addition to all the same uses as allowed by state law, Emeryville employees may use their PSL to provide care for a guide dog, signal dog, or service dog (their own or a family member’s or a designated individual’s). Long Beach. Before the pandemic, the City of Long Beach had mandated paid sick leave for hotel workers.169 On May 19, 2020, Long Beach passed its first non-industry-specific sick leave ordinance, providing two weeks (up to 80 hours) of Covid-19 related leave to employees of employers not covered by the FFCRA, working in the city, which has now expired.170 Los Angeles (City). The City of Los Angeles joined the PSL parade in 2016.171 Its ordinance defines “employee” to include any individual who performs two or more hours of work per week within the City’s geographic boundaries, regardless of whether the individual resides in the City or is legally authorized to work. The minimum wage ordinance that mandates paid sick leave excludes employees employed by the government or exempt from state minimum wage laws. “Employer” is defined to include “a corporate officer or executive, who directly or indirectly or through an agent or any other person, including through the services of a temporary service or staffing agency or similar entity, employs or exercises control over the wages, hours or working conditions of any Employee.”
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