Los Angeles, CA: Revised Supplemental Paid Sick Leave and New COVID-19 Vaccine Leave

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti recently revised the extant Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (SPSL) order and issued a new vaccine leave order. The two orders have different effective date ranges and eligibility requirements, summarized below.

Revised SPSL Order

Employers of 500 or more Los Angeles employees or 2,000 employees nationwide are required to provide SPSL.  The revised order, effective June 24, 2021, permits employees to use Los Angeles SPSL to cover time off used to obtain or recover from a COVID-19 vaccine.  While employers are generally prohibited from requiring employees to furnish a doctor’s note to access SPSL, the revised order provides an exception that permits employers to verify employee receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine. This order remains in effect until two calendar weeks after the local COVID-19 emergency period ends.

New COVID-19 Vaccine Leave

Employers of all sizes must provide eligible employees with paid time off to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. COVID vaccine leave (CVL) must be provided in addition to other paid leave available for an employee, including California’s statewide paid sick leave or SPSL.

1. Effective date: CVL is retroactive to January 1, 2021 and runs through September 30, 2021. Employees who previously took time off to receive a COVID vaccine may submit a request to receive a retroactive payment, or to have any previous time off balances restored and the previous leave reclassified as CVL.
2. Eligibility:
   1. Employers: All private employers of any size are covered; however, employers of 26 or fewer need only provide CVL to employees who have exhausted time off under CA SPSL or Los Angeles SPSL.
   2. Employees: Employees who work in Los Angeles and have been employed for 60 days are eligible for CVL. Employees covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement may be exempt.
3. Amount of Leave: Full-time employees must be provided up to four hours of CVL for each vaccine injection and eight hours to recover from any related side effects. Part-time employees receive a prorated amount of CVL based on the average number of hours worked in the 60 days preceding injection or recovery.
4. Rate of Pay: CVL must be paid at the highest of the following:
   1. Employee’s normal rate of pay for the workweek in which leave was taken;
   2. Los Angeles minimum wage; or
   3. Employee’s average hourly pay for preceding 60 days, not including overtime.

Action Items