44 | 2024 Cal-Peculiarities ©2024 Seyfarth Shaw LLP www.seyfarth.com service or staffing agency or similar entity, employs or exercises control over the wages, hours or working conditions of any Employee.” Thus, corporate officers and executives may be personally liable under the Los Angeles ordinance. Employees may use up to 48 hours of PSL in “each year of employment, calendar year or 12-month period.” Unused accrued PSL must carry over to the following year of employment, but may be capped at 72 hours. Employers may set a higher cap or no cap. Employers can choose to either (1) “frontload” PSL by providing the entire 48 hours to an employee at the beginning of each year, or (2) have PSL accrue at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked. The Los Angeles ordinance differs from state law, which provides that if an employer front-loads PSL, then the unused PSL does not carry over, and the unused balance is simply replaced by the new grant. By contrast, Los Angeles requires that employers carry over from year to year up to at least 72 hours. So while a Los Angeles employee can use only 48 hours of sick pay in a year, the employee can carry over 72 hours of PSL (or more, if the employer allows it). The Los Angeles ordinance covers family members as defined in the state PSL.163 Los Angeles is one of the cities that expanded existing covered reasons for taking general PSL to include specific Covid-related reasons.164 Los Angeles (City) - Living Wage Ordinance. With some exceptions, Los Angeles’s Living Wage Ordinance (LWO) applies to city contractors, and includes specific provisions for employees servicing airports.165 See § 7.2.3 for a discussion of the wage requirements. The LWO also requires city contractors to provide their employees with at least 96 hours of compensated time off and 80 hours of uncompensated hours off.166 These allotments are similar to West Hollywood’s PSL mandate discussed below. Employees are eligible to use their accrued paid compensated time off after the first 90 days of employment, or consistent with the employer’s policies, whichever is sooner.167 Compensated time off can be used for sick leave, vacation, or personal necessity. This time must be paid at an employee’s regular rate at the time the compensated time off is used.168 As in West Hollywood, under the LWO, unused accrued compensated time off will carry over until the time off reaches a maximum of 192 hours, unless the employer’s established policy is more generous.169 Once an employee reaches the maximum accrued compensated time off, an employer must provide a cash payout once every 30 days for accrued compensated time off over the maximum.170 Employers can provide the option of cashing out any portion of accrued compensated time off, but cannot require employees to cash out any accrued compensated time off.171 Additionally, the LWO requires employers to permit full-time employees to take at least 80 additional hours per year of uncompensated time off and non-full-time employees to take a proportionate incremental number of hours of uncompensated time off each year.172 Uncompensated time off can be used for sick leave for the employee or for a family member’s illness when the employee has exhausted compensated time off. This time off is available for use after the first 90 days of employment or consistent with the employer’s policies, whichever is sooner.173 Again mirroring West Hollywood’s PSL ordinance, unused, accrued uncompensated time off will carry over until the time off reaches a maximum of 80 hours, unless the employer’s established policy is more generous.174 There are other similarities between the two ordinances, including their respective silence regarding payout of unused accrued time off at termination. Oakland. Oakland’s PSL ordinance, passed in 2014, covers any employee who in any workweek performs at least two hours of work in the city. The definition of “employer” includes indirect employers, such as businesses who hire through staffing agencies. The substantive provisions are similar to San Francisco’s ordinance as it existed at the time. The Oakland ordinance175 provides that employees earn one hour of PSL for every 30 hours worked. Employers may cap the annual amount accrued at 72 hours, though small businesses (fewer than 10 employees) may impose a cap at 40 hours. Sick leave can be used for care of the employee, a wide array of
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