New Retroactive Paid Pandemic Leave Requirement

Revisions Coming  2021 Handbook & Forms

Likely to be quickly signed by Governor Newsom, Senate Bill (SB) 95 significantly expands California employer obligations to provide COVID-related paid sick leave in addition to established sick leave benefits, retroactive to January 1, 2021.

While we will report on the bill’s specifics once it is officially part of the Labor Code, its passage underscores the vital importance of updated, compliant workplace policies.

Accordingly, we will be promptly offering revised model forms to track with this significant development.

Current for 2021, our model forms will now include:

• Workforce pandemic recovery and prevention measures;
• Vaccination promotion, requirements and procedures;
• Paid sick leave benefits under all related federal and California directives, including the upcoming Covid-19 supplemental requirements;
• Employment application and accompanying job description template(including key requirements for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance and California’s constitutional privacy protections);
• Pre-employment protocols (properly positioning the process to meet changing legal requirements);
• Employment agreement (including confidentiality/non-disclosure of company trade secrets);
• Alternative dispute resolution agreement (also properly setting terms to match changing standards for private mediation and arbitration in lieu of court action);
• Meal and rest period acknowledgments (confirming employer provision of required breaks); and
• Termination policy, checklist and standard release (to be applied as appropriate for full transition and greater protection against later, preventable suits).

Our comprehensive model employee handbook will now include:

• Conditions of company employment, including mutual “at will” termination rights;
• Discrimination and harassment, prevention and handling (including new standards stemming from government response to COVID-19 conditions);
• Employee compensation;
• Employee benefits;
• Employee job performance;
• Limits of employee privacy, including valid employer access to employee-maintained databases and social media guidelines;
• Paid and unpaid leaves, including the latest supplemental paid sick leave requirements;
• Workplace health and safety;
• Job-related injury or illness, including prevention plan priorities; and
• Drug and alcohol policy, including testing and violations procedures and standards.

See also,

• Stay – Away “Exclusion” Pay – Required Pandemic Wages for Positive Test or Workplace Exposure (March 18, 2021)
• Preventing Discrimination in a Pandemic – California’s Expanded Guidelines on Workplace Vaccination Practices (March 11, 2021)
• What’s New in 2021: One-Stop COVID Shop – New California Website and Employer Portal (March 5, 2021)