Federal and State Paid Leave for COVID-19

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We know many people have questions about federal and state law regarding COVID-19 and paid leave. These FAQs provide guidance on both areas.   


Is the FFCRA still in effect?


No. The provisions in the FFCRA ended December 31, 2021. 

Do employees covered under the Healthcare ETS receive paid leave to get vaccinated?

 Yes. The employer must support COVID-19 vaccination for each employee by providing reasonable time and paid leave (e.g., paid sick leave, administrative leave) to each employee for vaccination and any side effects experienced following vaccination.

Reasonable time may include, but is not limited to, time spent during work hours related to the vaccination appointment(s), such as registering, completing required paperwork, all time spent at the vaccination site (e.g., receiving the vaccination dose, post-vaccination monitoring by vaccine provider), and time spent traveling to and from the location for vaccination (including travel to an off-site location (e.g., a pharmacy), or situations in which an employee working remotely (e.g., telework) or in an alternate location must travel to the workplace to receive the vaccine). See the COVID-19 Healthcare ETS FAQs for more information. 

Do Federal employees get paid leave for COVID-19 vaccination?

Yes. Agencies must grant employees with at least four hours of administrative leave so that they can receive a vaccine dose. In the case of an employee who receives three doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, as is currently recommended for immunocompromised individuals, he or she would receive a total of 12 hours of leave just for the purposes of getting the vaccine. See the Safer Federal Workforce website for more information.

Do Federal employees get paid leave for COVID-19 vaccine boosters?

Yes.  All adults who completed a primary vaccination series with an mRNA vaccine at least six months ago and those who received a Johnson & Johnson shot at least two months ago are eligible for a booster. See the White House statement for more information.

Which states have paid leave for COVID-19?

Arizona. In Arizona employees may take paid sick leave due to COVID-19 if they fall within one of the following categories:

For employers with 15 or more employees, employees are entitled to accrue one hour of earned paid sick time for every 30 hours worked, but employees are not entitled to accrue or use more than 40 hours of earned paid sick time per year, unless the employer selects a higher limit.

There is no expiration date for the law.

California. Covered employees in the public or private sectors who work for employers with 26 or more employees are entitled to up to 80 hours of 2022 COVID-19 related paid sick leave from January 1, 2022 through September 30, 2022, immediately upon an oral or written request to their employer, with up to 40 of those hours available only when an employee or family member tests positive for COVID-19.

See the bill for more information.

Long Beach, CA. Long Beach requires all private employers that have more than 500 employees nationwide to provide their employees with paid sick leave for absences due to COVID-19. Every 90-day, the City Manager will report back to the City Council and Mayor on the effectiveness of the provisions of this Chapter and whether the provisions of this Chapter are still necessary based on the City's recovery from the health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The City Council will determine the sunset date of the paid leave requirements based on the 90-day reports. The paid leave requirements are still in effect. The deadline for the paid leave benefits will be determined by the City Council. The paid leave requirements are still in effect.

Los Angeles, CA. The Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance requiring employers with employees working in the city to provide COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave (SPSL) to those employed from Feb. 3 through March 4, 2020; this time period has been extended because the COVID-19 Local Emergency Order is still in effect.

Mayor Garcetti revised his Supplemental Paid Sick Leave Due to COVID-19 (SPSL) Order and issued a new order, Vaccine Paid Sick Leave Due to COVID-19 (CVL). This revised order requires employers with more than 500 employees in California or 2,000 employees in the U.S. to allow their employees to use SPSL to take time off to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and it allows employers to require proof of vaccination from their employees. The new order requires all employers to provide employees with CVL time off in addition to other paid leave.[1] The CVL is retroactive to January 1, 2021 and will last “until two weeks after the expiration of the COVID-19 local emergency as ratified and declared by the Board.

Los Angeles County, CA. Employers with employees in unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County must provide employees with paid leave to receive and recover from the COVID-19 vaccine. All employers with employees in the county must provide Supplemental Paid Sick Leave until two weeks after the expiration of the COVID-19 emergency. Full-time  employees  who have exhausted all available leave time under Labor Code  Section  248.2 are entitled to use up to four  hours of  additional paid leave per injection to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Part-time employees who have exhausted all available leave time under Labor Code Section 248.2 are entitled to additional paid leave to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at the following rate: the prorated amount or four hours per injection based on their normally scheduled work hours over the two-week period preceding the injection.

The expiration date for the Supplemental Paid Sick Leave is two-weeks after the expiration of the COVID-19 emergency, which is still in effect.

Oakland, CA. The City of Oakland enacted an emergency ordinance on January 19, 2021 extending and revising its emergency paid sick leave ordinance, which retroactively applies from December 31, 2020.  The ordinance provides all full-time employees with 80 hours of emergency paid sick leave (part-time employees receive a pro-rata amount). The sunset date of this emergency ordinance depends on expiration of Oakland’s March 9, 2020 Declaration of COVID-19 Emergency, which has not expired.

San Francisco, CA. San Francisco offers up to 80 hours of paid leave for COVID -19 for city employees for COVID-19 symptoms, COVID-19 workplace exposure, COVID-19 quarantine, school or childcare closure, and caring for a qualified individual.

This requirement is still in effect.

Colorado. Employers must provide employees with up to two weeks of paid leave (80 hours if full-time, less if part-time) for COVID-related needs. The current 80-hour requirement took effect on January 1, 2021, and remains in effect. PHE leave is usable for a range of COVID-related needs, not just for confirmed cases. COVID-related needs include:

See the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment website for more information.

District of Columbia. Employees who have worked for 30 days for an employer with 20 or more employees in the District may use up to 16 weeks of New COVID-19 Leave for one of the following reasons:

The COVID-19 leave is unpaid, but employees may use accrued paid leave. There is no expiration date on the law. See the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights website for more information.

Illinois

Cook County, IL. If an employer in Cook County requires that their employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine, they must provide them with up to four hours of paid leave per dose to receive it. Employees who work for employers who do not require the vaccine may use paid sick leave or paid time off to get vaccinated.[1] This requirement is still in effect.

MassachusettsFrequently asked questions about COVID-19 (Office of the Attorney General)
MichiganExecutive Order No. 2020-36 (Office of the Governor, April 3, 2020)
MinnesotaWorker protections related to COVID-19 (Department of Labor and Industry, March 19, 2020)

Duluth, MN
Earned Sick and Safe Time and COVID-19 FAQs (City of Duluth, MN)
Minneapolis, MN. Minneapolis FAQs. Employees in Minneapolis can use accrued sick leave for absences related to Coronavirus symptoms, testing, infection, or vaccine. Employees accrue a minimum of one (1) hour of sick and safe time for every thirty (30) hours worked within the geographic boundaries of the city up to a maximum of forty-eight (48) hours in a calendar year. Paid sick time can be used by the employee for self-care, or to care for a family member. Sick time can also be used if a family member’s school or place of child care is closed, or if the employee’s workplace is closed by order of a public official due to the virus. Preemptive closures or self-quarantine are not covered uses under the ordinance.

There is no expiration date for this ordinance.

Nevada
COVID-19 and paid leave guidance (Office of the Labor Commissioner, March 11, 2020)
New JerseyCOVID-19 FAQs for employees (Department of Labor & Workforce Development)
New York, NY.  2020 Ch. 25, Emergency COVID-19 paid sick leave law (Senate, March 18, 2020)
New York City, NY. On November 23, 2021, the New York City Council passed a bill amending its Earned Safe and Sick Time Act requiring all private-sector employers to provide their employees with four hours of paid COVID-19 child vaccination leave for each of their children, per vaccine injection, retroactive to November 2, 2021. There is no expiration date for this bill.

Oregon
: COVID-19 FAQs for employers and employees (Wage and Hour Division)
Philadelphia, PA. Starting March 9, 2022 until December 31, 2023, employers with 25 or more employees must provide up to 40 hours of additional paid sick leave to eligible employees when they are unable to work for certain COVID-19 reasons, including: 

This paid sick leave must be provided outside of and prior to using the eligible employee’s existing accrued paid time off banks including for full time employees, part time employees, and union employees. COVID-19 Leave must be provided to employees immediately with no waiting period. An employer is permitted only to request that an employee submit a self-certified statement asserting that leave was used for COVID-19 Leave purposes. See the law for more information.

Pittsburg, PA. In Pittsburgh, employers with 50 or more employees must provide their employees with paid sick leave for COVID-19 reasons, including when a public official, a public health authority, a healthcare provider, or an employer determines that an individual must quarantine or when an employee needs to care for a family member who must quarantine or who has COVID-19. There is no expiration date for this ordinance.

Rhode Island. The Healthy and Safe Families and Workplace Act requires employers with 18 or more employees to offer paid sick leave. Employers with fewer than 18 employees must provide at least unpaid sick leave. Employees accrue one hour for every 35 hours worked. This is capped at 40 hours per year. Paid sick time can be used for the employees physical or mental health needs or for a family member’s mental or physical needs. See the Department of Labor and Training website for more information.  Department of Administration FAQs for more information.Employees out of work for COVID-19-related reasons may discharge paid leave. See the Department of Administration FAQs for more information. There is no expiration date for this law.

Vermont. COVID-19 FAQs for employer and employees (Department of Labor, March 19, 2020)
Washington. Paid sick leave and COVID-19 webpage (Department of Labor & Industries)
Seattle. 

 FAQs from Seattle’s Office of Labor Standards clarify how the city’s Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance (PSST) applies for the COVID-19 public emergency and detail the city’s amendments. The ordinance requires employers with one or more employees working in the city to provide paid leave to employees to care for themselves or a family member who has a physical or mental health condition, a medical appointment or a critical safety issue. Under the original ordinance, employees also could use accrued paid leave when a public official closes their place of business or their child’s school or place of care for health reasons. Gig workers who work for transportation or food delivery network companies may be eligible for PSST as well. There is no expiration date for this ordinance.

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