Update Applicable to:
All employers in the state of California.

What happened?
In a previous communication, we notified you that the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 152 (AB 152), which, if signed by Governor Newsom, will establish the COVID-19 Relief Grant Program and extend the COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave provisions. This is an update to that communication.

What are the details?
On September 29, 2022, California’s governor signed AB 152, which immediately extends the obligation of employers with 26 or more employees to provide COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave (“CA 2022 SPSL”) through December 31, 2022, amends standards for when employees use CA 2022 SPSL because they test positive for COVID-19, and creates the California Small Business and Nonprofit COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Relief Grant Program.

CA 2022 SPSL Extension:
Originally, California Labor Code sections 248.6 and 248.7 required covered employers to provide CA 2022 SPSL through September 30, 2022. Of importance, the new three-month extension does not require a new bank of leave. Instead, the potentially up to 80 hours of CA 2022 SPSL that employees could have used between January 1, 2022, and the original expiration date must continue to be available through the remainder of 2022 (and possibly slightly beyond 2022 if an employee begins a covered absence at the end of 2022 that continues, uninterrupted, into 2023). Accordingly, if employees have used all their available CA 2022 SPSL hours before October 1, 2022, and experience another qualifying absence sometime between October and year-end, they will need to use another pay or wage replacement benefit (e.g., non-COVID paid sick leave, vacation, California Disability Insurance) to receive payment and/or other leave laws (or leave-related provisions) for job protections to attach to the absence (e.g., Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act, California Family Rights Act, or Cal-OSHA COVID-19 Prevention Emergency Temporary Standards).

Conversely, if employees have not used any or have used only a portion of their 2022 CA SPSL, they will have access to this paid leave for the remainder of 2022 if they experience a qualifying need for leave. The extension is relevant not only for state law purposes but also for employers with 100 or more employees worldwide who must comply with San Francisco’s permanent Public Health Emergency Leave Ordinance (“SF PHELO”) that takes effect on October 1, 2022. Under SF PHELO, employers can count any CA 2022 SPSL an employee uses between October 1 and December 31, 2022, against their obligation to provide potentially up to 40 hours of public health emergency leave during that period.

On a related note, employers should remember that additional local SPSL ordinances remain in effect in Long Beach, the City of Los Angeles, unincorporated Los Angeles County, and Oakland.  As a result, they may also need to contend with compliance obligations under local laws.

CA 2022 SPSL Amendments:
Currently, if an employee uses CA 2022 SPSL because they test positive for COVID-19 – from their “COVID-positive” bank, if an employer uses a two-bank setup, or generally if the employer uses a single-bank setup – an employer can require the employee to take a diagnostic test on or after the fifth day after the initial test and provide documentation of those results. As amended, the law additionally states, “[i]f the diagnostic test is positive, the employer may also require the employee to submit to a second diagnostic test within no less than 24 hours.”

Currently, state law says employers need not provide CA 2022 SPSL if an employee refuses an employer’s request to provide documentation of the test results. As amended, employers can also deny CA 2022 SPSL to an employee who refuses to submit to a diagnostic test.

Grants for Small Employers Providing CA 2022 SPSL:
Under AB 152, certain private employers and registered non-profits that began operating before June 1, 2021, are currently active and operating with a physical presence in California, and 26 to 49 employees may be eligible for a grant of up to $50,000 to cover the actual costs incurred for providing CA 2022 SPSL. Moreover, any grant they receive will not count as “gross income” for state tax purposes. Keep in mind that there are exceptions concerning which entities the law considers a “qualified small business or nonprofit.”

For more information, please see the links below:

Assembly Bill 152 (AB 152)

Article 1

COVID-19 SPSL Poster Notice (English) – COVID-19 SPSL Poster Notice (Spanish)

What do employers need to do?
Employers should review the links above and continue to provide the SPSL to their employees until December 31, 2022.

This communication is intended solely for the purpose of conveying information. The present post might incorporate hyperlinks directing readers to websites managed by third-party entities. The inclusion of any links within this communication is meant to serve as points of reference and could encompass opinion articles from various law firms, articles from HR associations, official websites, news releases, and documents of government agencies, and other relevant third-party sources. Vensure has no authority over these external websites and bears no responsibility for their content. Furthermore, Vensure does not endorse the materials present on these websites. The contents of this communication should not be interpreted as legal advice or as a legal standpoint concerning specific facts or scenarios. Nor should it be deemed an exhaustive compilation of facts potentially pertinent to federal, state, or local laws. It is strongly advised that employers solicit legal guidance from an employment attorney when undertaking actions in response to any legal updates provided. This is due to the possibility of future alterations occurring in federal, state, and local laws, regulations, as well as the directives and guidelines issued by governing agencies. These changes may transpire at any given time, potentially rendering certain portions of the content within this update void or inaccurate.