COVID-19 has been particularly difficult for restaurants and restaurant managers. With the industry finally beginning to see some recovery, there seems to be a bit of light at the end of the tunnel. However, there are still regulations that restaurants MUST take into consideration to keep their businesses running smoothly in COVID times. One such item is complying with the new California Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Law if it applies to your organization based on size. Here is what you need to know:

As of March 29th, CA requires Employers with more than 25 employees to provide Supplemental Paid Sick Leave. This sick leave is in addition to regular sick leave and provides the employee with up to 80 hours of paid leave for certain qualifying reasons. Part time employees with regular schedules are eligible for their normal weekly schedule of hours over two weeks. Part time employees who have variable schedules must be calculated. This leave applies to employees who are unable to work or telework for qualifying reasons. These include:

· Employee is subject to Quarantine or isolation period related to COVID-19

· Employee is advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine due to COVID concerns

· Employee is attending an appointment to receive a vaccine

· The employee is experience symptoms related to COVID-19 vaccine

· Employee has symptoms of COVID-19 and is seeking a medical diagnosis

· Employee is caring for a family member who is subject to an order or advised to self-quarantine

· Employee is caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed or otherwise unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19

For the purposes of this policy, family member is defined as a child, spouse or registered domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild or sibling.

The employee can request this leave in writing or orally and the employer must provide it immediately upon request. Employers also cannot require employees to use other leave or PTO before using SPSL.

This is considered a NEW bank of leave so even if an employee took supplemental leave in 2020, they still qualify for use of this leave. It is also retroactive to 1/1/2021, meaning that if an employee took unpaid leave before this policy became active as of March 29th, they can request payment for that time. Employers can count leave for qualifying reasons starting at 1/1/2021 towards this leave bank as well.

The Depart of Industrial Relations has created a required posting for employers. This should be displayed where your other labor law posters are, in a place where employees can easily view and read them. If you have employees who are not frequently in the workplace, you should send the poster out to them electronically.

Employers are also required to display this leave on employee paystubs. It has to be listed separately from regular paid sick days and should be included no later than the next full pay period AFTER March 29th. It is important that you work with your payroll provider to ensure this information is accurately included on each pay check until the law expires.

This leave is set to expire on 9/30/2021. If you happen to have an employee on this leave when it expires, they are still entitled to the full amount of leave. There is always the possibility that this leave will be expanded further as well, so be sure to check for updates throughout the year. Additionally, you should check your local ordinances for supplemental paid sick leave as many cities have their own supplemental leave laws currently in effect.

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What should be done immediately?

1. Provide notice to employees either posted or electronically if they are working from home.

2. Implement policies/procedures/forms to request this leave.

3. Work with payroll on pay stub reporting obligations. The SPSL must be noted separately on the pay stub from FFCA, State or local municipality sick leave. 80 hours for Fulltime employees. Calculation must be done for Part-time employees that have variable hours (information is provided on how to calculate in this hand out).

4. Develop a strategy for documenting and responding to retro-active payment requests. ***Please note that an employee has to ask for retro payment either verbally or in written form.

Restaurant managers should be fully versed in the leave requirements so they know what qualifies and how an employee can request the use of this leave.

Let Vine Solutions team of HR professionals help navigate this new California Supplemental Sick Leave requirement.

Our HR team will be hosting a webinar on Wednesday, April 7th at 2:00 pm with additional information regarding this new leave. If you would like to participate, please email us at hr@vinesolutions.com.

What Restaurant Managers Need to Know about CA Supplemental Paid Sick Leave

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