Are you a California employer with at least 26 employees? Are you aware of the COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (abbreviated SPSL)?
In 2020, certain employers were required to offer supplemental sick pay compensation to their employees, but that law had expired as of December 31, 2020.
However, a new law came into effect on March 29 which was retroactive back to January 1, 2021. This new law adds coverage that originally didn’t exist in 2020 and includes:
- The employee has a medical appointment for a vaccination
- The employee has been advised by a medical provider to self-quarantine due to COVID-19
- The employee is experiencing symptoms related to the vaccine that prevents them from working
- The employee is experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 and is seeking a medical diagnosis
- The employee is caring for a family member who is subject to a quarantine period
- The employee is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed or unavailable due to COVID-19
Full-time employees who work at least 40 hours each week area entitled to 80 hours. Part-time employees are entitled to the hours they are normally scheduled for two weeks. If their schedule varies, you calculate the average hours worked daily in the previous 6 months and multiply by 14.
Non-exempt employees must be compensated at the highest amount of wages paid. Exempt employees should receive the same compensation as they would receive for other forms of paid leave.
The amount to pay is capped at $511 per day and $5,110 total.
SPSL is in additional to any other paid sick leave you provde and you can’t require the employee to use any other available paid sick leave prior to qualifying for SPSL.
You must provide your employees with notice of the right to receive the supplemental sick pay compensation. If your workers do not come to the workplace, you must send them the information electronically. You must also show on their pay-stub any SPSL compensation received.
This new law expires as of September 30, 2021 unless extended by additional legislation.
For more detailed information on this law, see specifics at dir.ca.gov and search Supplemental paid sick leave FAQs or use the link below in the description of this video.
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