Posted on April 15th, 2021
Find a complete transcript of this video below
What’s up fellow entrepreneurs today. I want to talk about the new law enacted by governor Gavin Newson on March 19th, 2021. it’s been a few days, so forgive me for being behind, but it’s called the COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave act or SPSL, but first as always, I’m a lawyer, but I’m not your lawyer. So please seek out competent legal advice for your particular question or problem.
Now the new law will go into effect on March 29th, 2021. So here in a few days and is retroactive to January one, 2021. It’s very similar to California’s previous COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave law that expired on December 31st, 2020, but it also contains substantial differences.
So, starting with covered employers, they expired law covered employers with 500 or more employees nationwide. The new law covers employers with 26 or more employees nationwide, qualifying employees.
The new law makes major changes to the qualifying reasons available for paid leave, including five new laws added to the definition of qualifying reasons for the leave under the new law, employees are eligible for paid leave.
If they are unable to work for one of the following reasons the employee is subject to a quarantine or isolation period related to COVID-19. the employee has been advised by a healthcare provider to self quarantine doing two due to concerns related to COVID-19. the employees attending, an appointment to receive a vaccine for protection.
The employee is experiencing, symptoms related to COVID-19 vaccine, that prevents them from being able to work. the employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis. The employee is caring for a family member who is subject to a quarantine or isolation period, or has been advised to self quarantine. And finally, the employee is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed or otherwise unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19. So second the amount of leave.
So full-time employees are eligible for up to 80 hours of leave. Part-time employees are eligible for the total of number of hours. They’re normally scheduled to work over two weeks. So if a, if a part-time employee works a variable number of hours, then that employee is eligible for 14 times.
The average number of hours he or she worked, eat sick. See each day over the previous six months, let’s talk about the amount of pay. So non-exempt employees must receive leave at the highest of the following, their regular rate of pay their total wages, not including overtime premium, pay divided by their total hours, worked in the full pay periods of the prior 19 days of employment, or state minimum wage and local minimum wage. So exempt employees must receive pay in the same amount as their employer calculates wages for other forms of paid leave time.
Like the previous law pay is capped at $511 per day and 5,110 in the accurate, however, in the aggregate. However, if subsequent federal legislation increases these amounts, then the state amounts will be increased. Also. Now let’s talk about interaction with other employer, provide a sick leave.
So paid leave under this new law is an addition to any other paid sick leave provided by the employer. Also employers cannot require an employee to use any other paid or unpaid leave, paid time off or vacation before using the SPSL, interaction with other COVID-19 leave entitlements any leave provided to an employee under a different entitlement. After January 20, after January one, 2021 will count against an employee’s SPSL leave.
If the leave is available for the same reason and provides pay at the same rate as this new law interaction with Cal OSHA exclusion pay the new law allows employers to require a place to first exhaust their leave under the SPSL before receiving exclusion pay under CalOSHA.
So as PSL is not in addition to exclusion pay under the Cal OSHA emergency standards, there’s also a notice in pay stop requirements. So employers are required to provide notice to employees of their right to SPSL. The notice may be provided by email or other electronic means for employees who do not frequent the workplace and employees SPSL leave must also be reflected on itemized wage statements.
It must be set forth separately from regular paid sick leave. CINCPAC let’s talk about retroactivity. Now, the, the new law applies retroactively to January one, 2021, and this one’s going to hurt, hurt my friends upon request employers are required to provide retroactive payments to employees who would, who would have otherwise been eligible for the SPSL, you know, starting January one, employers are required to provide this retroactive payment.
If the employee did not receive compensation equal to the amount they would be entitled under the new law, the retroactive pay is due on or before the payday for the net full pay period after the employee’s request any retroactive SPSL received by an employee counts against her or his or her total eligibility.
All right. And finally, there is an expert aviation day. Thank God. The new SPSL expires on September 30th, 2021. So that’s all for this video. Ladies and gentlemen I know it was a difficult one to kind of keep up with. It was just a lot of things that were coming down, but you know, this is all online.
If you need to really see specifically what I was talking about. So until the next time be productive, talk to you soon.
