CA Supplemental Paid Sick Leave

Senate Bill 95 requires all California employers with more than 25 employees to provide Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (SPSL) in addition to the regular paid sick leave that went into effect in 2015. The new SPSL is retroactive to January 1st, 2021 and is in effect until September 30th, 2021.

Reasons for Leave
The bill allows employees to take paid time off due to:

• Caring for Themselves: The covered employee is subject to a quarantine or isolation period related to COVID-19.
• Caring for a Family Member: The covered employee is caring for a family member who is subject to a COVID-19 quarantine or isolation period.
• Vaccine-Related: The covered employee is attending a vaccine appointment or cannot work or telework due to vaccine-related symptoms.

Amount of Leave
Employees are entitled to the following leave amounts:

• Full-Time Employees, or those who work 40 or more hours per week in the 2 weeks prior to taking leave, get up to 80 hours.
• Part-time employees with fixed hours are entitled to their normally scheduled hours over a 2-week period.
• Part-time employees with variable hours are entitled to 14 times their daily average hours over the 6 months preceding their use of SPSL. Part-time employees with variable hours who have been employed for less than 6 months will be entitled to 14 times their daily average hours over the course of their employment.

Mandatory Notice
Employers must post this mandatory workplace poster in a conspicuous location in the workplace. Employers whose workforces are remote, or partly remote, should ensure that those employees see the poster, either by sending it via email or posting it online.

Furthermore, California employers are required to show the SPSL balances on the employee pay stubs. Please let your CSR know which of your employees are variable-hour part-time so that the entitlements for each employee can be calculated in accordance with the new legislation.

American Rescue Plan Act

The American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, extends the provisions of the FFCRA, which ended on March 31st, 2021. Employers may – but are not required to – extend ARPA benefits to their employees (and receive tax credits for the same). Paid Sick Leave under ARPA is in effect from April 1st, 2021 through September 30th, 2021, and extends 2 weeks of paid leave to employees for COVID-related reasons, including attending a vaccination appointment or recovering from the effects of the vaccine. California employers who are subject to the provisions of SB95 must offer SPSL, and cannot use ARPA to replace SPSL.