California Reinstates COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Retroactive to January 1, 2022

California Reinstates COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Retroactive to January 1, 2022

By Alison Lungstrum Macneill

On February 19, 2022, the 2022 COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Law, Senate Bill 114, went into effect in California.[1]  The law, which retroactively applies from January 1, 2022, and extends until September 30, 2022, requires employers with 26 or more employees to provide supplemental paid sick leave of up to 80 hours for COVID-19 related paid leave.  

Under the new law, employers are required to post a notice of employees’ rights to the supplemental paid sick leave.  Further, employers must provide an employee with written notice that sets forth the amount of supplemental paid sick leave that the employee has used through the pay period in which it was due to be paid on either (1) the employee’s itemized wage statement, or (2) in a separate writing provided on the designated pay date with the employee’s payment of wages. Employers must list zero hours used if a worker has not used any supplemental paid sick leave and must list these hours separately from traditional paid sick leave.

Takeaway

The new law is similar to the previously enacted California Senate Bill 95, which expired September 30, 2021, but has a few critical differences, including splitting the hours into two separate 40 hour “buckets” of leave that can be used for different purposes.  Please contact the attorneys at Campbell Litigation for assistance implementing the new paid sick leave requirements in California.

[1] See https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB114