July 2022: San Francisco Voters Approved New Public Health Emergency Leave

Update Applicable to:
All employers with 100 or more employees worldwide in the city of San Francisco, California.

What happened?
On June 7, 2022, the citizens of San Francisco voted “Proposition G” into law, which will require employers with 100 or more employees worldwide to provide up to 80 hours of paid public health emergency leave to San Francisco-based employees.

What are the details?

Effective October 1, 2022, the leave ordinance will be in addition to employer-provided paid leave, such as paid sick leave (please see our articles here and here for more information on paid leaves in San Francisco), and below are some quick key points on what the leave would provide exactly.

Covered Employers
The new leave applies to private employers with more than 100 employees worldwide.

Covered Employees
The leave requirement applies to all employees who perform work within the city and county of San Francisco for covered employers.

Reasons for Leave
A covered employee may use Public Health Emergency Leave during a public health emergency if the employee is unable to work due to any of the following:

• The recommendations or requirements of an individual or general federal, state, or local health order.
• The employee has been advised by a healthcare provider to isolate or quarantine.
• The employee is experiencing symptoms of and seeking a medical diagnosis or has received a positive medical diagnosis for a possible infectious, contagious, or communicable disease associated with the public health emergency.
• The employee cares for a family member if the family member’s school or place of care has been closed or is unavailable due to a public health emergency.
• There is an air quality emergency, and the employee is a member of a vulnerable population and primarily works outdoors.

Amount of Leave

Starting on October 1, 2022, and then at the start of each year, employers must provide up to 80 hours of paid leave for Public Health Emergency Leave. Full-time employees or employees on a fixed schedule must receive an amount equal to the hours they regularly work in a two-week period. For employees with a variable schedule, the ordinance provides two methods of calculating the amount required.

Notice Requirement

Employers are required to post a notice that will be developed by the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement. To date, the required notice has not been posted.

More detailed information on the ordinance can be found here from one of our most trusted sources, Littler:

• Covered Employers, Employees, and Family Members
• Covered Uses
• Amount of Leave
• Using Leave
• Rate of Pay
• Prohibitions
• Notice, Posting, and Recordkeeping
• Penalties, Damages, and Enforcement

For more information, please see the links below:

Proposition G

San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement

Article 1 – Article 2

What do employers need to do?

Employers should review the links provided above, take advantage of the limited time to review existing or create new policies and be on the lookout for the required posting uploaded by the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement.