Muristek
By MADISON HIRNEISEN
THE CENTER SQUARE
(The Center Square) – California lawmakers advanced a proposal to provide workers with up to two weeks of COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave on Monday, sending the bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom to be signed into law.
A majority of the Legislature voted to pass Senate Bill 114, which would provide up to 80 hours of paid sick leave if a worker or family member tests positive for COVID-19.
The provisions are similar to an existing law that guaranteed paid sick leave for workers, which expired in September 2021. Supporters of SB 114 said Monday it is necessary to bring back these provisions to ensure workers are not forced to choose between losing a paycheck or going to work sick.
“The lives of our workforce was upended amidst this [latest COVID-19] surge, forcing many to work sick or to make a choice between losing their job or taking care of their health or the health of a loved one,” Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, D-Los Angeles, said Monday. “This is not an option that people should ever have to make – not in California.”
The bill applies to larger businesses with 26 or more employees and retroactively runs from Jan. 1, 2022, through the end of September. During this time frame, workers can receive 40 hours of paid sick leave if they are experiencing symptoms, caring for a sick family member or taking care of a child whose school or daycare is closed due to COVID-19.
Workers could then receive an additional 40 hours of paid leave if they or a family member show proof of a positive COVID-19 test.
After negotiations between lawmakers and business groups, The bill’s sponsor amended the proposal to limit workers to 24 hours – or three days of work – to attend a vaccine appointment or recover from symptoms related to the vaccine.
“This act will help ensure that those employees who are sick can take the paid sick leave that they need so that all of us are protected,” Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, said Monday.
Some lawmakers opposed the proposal, saying it could harm businesses.
Assemblyman Vince Fong, R-Bakersfield, voted against the proposal after voicing concerns Monday about the out-of-pocket costs to businesses that would not be offset by relief from the state.
Under the last paid sick leave program, businesses could receive tax credits from the federal government to cover the cost, but those funds are no longer available.
Assemblyman Fong brought up the idea of creating a state tax credit that would help offset the cost of bringing back COVID-19 paid sick leave for businesses, which the Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated would cost the state between $500 million to $1.4 billion.
“There are significant unintended consequences to this bill,” Assemblyman Fong said Monday. “Requiring small businesses and nonprofits to pay up to two weeks of sick paid leave on top of existing paid leave is a financial burden that could bankrupt a local store, a local restaurant or a nonprofit that is barely holding on by the skin of their teeth.”
Assembly Budget Committee Chair Phil Ting, D-San Francisco, said he too hoped the state could come up with some form of tax credit to offer relief to businesses, adding that he’d like to see it proposed in the June budget.
“Because the federal aid is not there, that state aid [could] work to help those small businesses who are having to bear some of the brunt from the sick leave,” Assemblyman Ting said.
The paid sick leave proposal was passed in conjunction with several other emergency bills on Monday, including a bill that would allocate $1.9 billion in state funds to bolster the state’s COVID-19 response. The bill would provide $1.6 billion to the California Department of Public Health to expand vaccination and testing efforts, address hospitalization rates and confront other COVID-19-related mitigations. It also includes $205.5 million for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, which would mainly bolster testing efforts in state prisons.
Gov. Newsom is expected to sign the package of emergency bills later this week.
The post Employer-paid COVID-19 sick leave mandate heads to Newsom appeared first on Santa Barbara News-Press.