California workers may have more paid sick leave due to Covid surge

Q:        COVID continues to be problem for many and is hitting close to home with these new variants that are highly contagious (I know relatives and friends who are getting very sick!). I work for a company that gives 40 hours (5 days) of paid sick leave. If I ever need to take leave due to COVID (either I get sick or my family gets sick) I will need more than 5 days. What are my options?

A:        When this column first started writing about COVID-19 in March 2020, the recorded cases in California was 700 (!). Today, as we write this, there are over 8 million infections in the state and over 80,000 deaths. The pandemic that started two years ago is still with us and shows no sign of stopping.

Even though emergency laws took effect to help employees navigate common issues of illness and sick leaves, the last of those measures have since expired. Now, with the surge of the Omicron variant, the number of Californians who were not working in the last month because they or a family member had COVID increased by 320%, according to the California Budget and Policy Center. With the need to go on sick leave, employees are understandably concerned about their rights regarding leave, wages, and work protection.

Under California law, an employee working for 30 or more calendar days within a year is entitled to paid sick leave. An employer is required to provide a minimum of 3 days, or 24 hours, of sick leave per year. Paid sick leave may accrue at a rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, and must be reflected on each wage statement. The law applies to full-time employees, as well as temporary, part-time, and seasonal employees. The law also provides paid sick leave to both non-exempt (hourly) and exempt (salaried) employees. Employees may begin using accrued sick leave on the 90th calendar day of employment.

In the alternative, an employer may use its own Paid Time Off (PTO) or sick leave policy if it accrues at the same or faster rate than the state-mandated accrual. Instead of waiting for sick leave accrual, an employer may provide the 3 days of sick leave up front at the beginning of the year. If the employer “front-loads” the amount of sick days in this way, sick leave may not be carried over to the next year. An employer may choose to cap the amount of paid six leave an employee may use per year to 3 days, or 24 hours, and the total amount an employee may accrue to 6 days, or 48 hours.

In the city of Los Angeles, specifically, employers must provide employees with a minimum of 6 days, or 48 hours, of paid sick leave per year. Sick leave will accrue at the rate of 1 hour for every 30 hours worked and can be capped at 72 hours. Employers must retain records documenting hours worked and paid sick leave accrued for 4 years.

However, with a COVID illness, 6 days of paid leave may not be enough. To help employees and their families, California’s Governor and lawmakers “have reached an agreement on a framework to ensure employees continue to have access to COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave” until September 30, 2022. This agreement is set to be retroactive to January 1^st of this year and extend through September 30. Lawmakers will reportedly act on the Governor’s emergency budget request that includes this sick leave program by June.

Paid sick leave can be used for absences due to illness, the diagnosis, care or treatment of an existing health condition or preventative care for the employee or their family member. Preventative care may include self-quarantine as a result of potential exposure to COVID-19 if quarantine is required by civil authorities. There may be other situations where an employee may exercise their right to take paid sick leave, or an employer may allow paid sick leave for preventative care.

The Law Offices of C. Joe Sayas, Jr. welcomes inquiries about this topic. All inquiries are confidential and at no-cost. You can contact the office at (818) 291-0088 or visit www.joesayaslaw.com. [For more than 25 years, C. Joe Sayas, Jr., Esq. successfully recovered wages and other monetary damages for thousands of employees and consumers. He was named Top Labor & Employment Attorney in California by the Daily Journal, consistently selected as Super Lawyer by the Los Angeles Magazine, and is a past Presidential Awardee for Outstanding Filipino Overseas.]