COVID-19

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Under the California Workers’ Compensation Act (“the Act”), employers must carry workers’ compensation insurance for employee injuries or illnesses which “arise out of and in the course of” employment. The Act, first passed in 1911 and amended over the years by the Legislature, provides a comprehensive system for administering claims, including the provision of disability…

California Governor Gavin Newsom has announced a plan to allow the limited reopening of some businesses beyond those in the category of essential critical infrastructure. This limited reopening is part of the “Resilience Roadmap” for California, the multi-phase plan to modify the statewide stay-at-home Order, originally issued on March 19, 2020, in response…

Last week, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors enacted an urgency ordinance to require employers with 500 or more employees nationally to provide supplemental paid sick leave to covered employees for COVID-19 related reasons. The County’s ordinance applies only to businesses in unincorporated areas of the County and to employees who perform any work within…

Before the COVID-19 crisis, there were limited paid leave entitlements in California for employees requiring time off to deal with childcare and school closures. California Labor Code 230.8 required that employers of 25 or more employees working at the same location were required to provide employees with up to 40 hours of unpaid leave within…

As shelter in place orders were rolled out in California, many businesses transitioned their workforce to remote work for the first time. Employers had to determine how to track hours worked or what qualified as a business expense. However, other unique questions arise with a remote workforce, such as how to handle employees using marijuana…

Soon after San Jose passed its supplemental paid sick leave ordinance to respond to the COVID-19 crisis, it issued further guidance regarding the leave. The Director of the Office of Equality Assurance, the office charged with enforcement of the emergency ordinance, has also issued an opinion letter to provide additional information.

The opinion letter addresses…

San Francisco remains at the forefront of COVID-19 related relief to those employees who work within the City and County limits.  Recently, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has continued this effort and passed the Public Health Emergency Leave Ordinance (PHELO).  PHELO is an emergency ordinance set to temporarily require private employers with 500…

In recent weeks, San Jose and Los Angeles have passed ordinances to provide supplemental paid sick leave to employees not otherwise covered by the recently enacted federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). San Francisco has a similar ordinance pending. On April 16th, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-51-20, which provides COVID-19 related…