On March 27, 2020, the City Council passed an ordinance mandating employers with 500 or more employees nationally offer Supplemental Paid Sick Leave for various COVID-19 related reasons described below.  The ordinance is awaiting Mayor Eric Garcetti’s review and anticipated approval.

Under the ordinance, covered employers must offer 80 hours of Supplemental Paid Sick Leave to employees who perform work within the geographic boundaries of the City of Los Angeles. However, the ordinance caps the total amount to be paid to no more than $511 per day and no more than $5,110 in the aggregate.  An employer may not condition the Supplemental Paid Sick Leave on receipt of a doctor’s note from the employee.

First responders or healthcare providers as defined by the California Government Code are exempted from the ordinance.  Furthermore, provisions of the ordinance may be expressly waived by a collective bargaining agreement.

Covered reasons for the Supplemental Paid Sick Leave include:

• Time off because a “public health official or health provider requires or recommends the Employee isolate or self-quarantine to prevent the spread of COVID-19;”
• The employee takes time off because they are at least 65 years old or has a health condition that puts them at risk;
• The employee needs to care for a family member who is not sick, but who public health officials or healthcare providers have required or recommended self-quarantine; or
• The employee needs to provide care to a family member whose senior care provider, school, or childcare provider is closed.

An employer’s obligation to provide the 80 hours of Supplemental Paid Sick Leave shall be reduced for every hour an employer allowed an employee to take leave for any of the covered reasons listed above on or after March 4, 2020.

The ordinance expires on December 31, 2020, unless the City Council takes action to extend the ordinance.

Jackson Lewis will continue to monitor this ordinance and other emergency regulations pertaining to COVID-19. Jackson Lewis’ Coronavirus Task Force is actively monitoring the developing situation surrounding the complexities of COVID-19.