Effective retroactive to January 1, 2022, but with employer requirements beginning on February 19, 2022, California reinstated many of the COVID-19-related supplemental paid sick leave (PSL) provisions that expired on September 30, 2021, plus some additional requirements. It will be in effect until September 30, 2022.
Under the 2022 COVID-19 supplemental PSL law, most public and private employers with 26 employees or more are required to provide covered employees with a new bank (dating from January 1, 2022) of up to 40 hours of 2022 COVID-19 supplemental PSL for COVID-19-related uses, such as isolation and quarantine, receiving and recovering from vaccines, and caring for a child whose school or place of care is closed. An additional 40 hours also must be provided when the employee or a family member for whom the employee cares tests positive for COVID-19.
Employers must provide accurate notice on a covered employee’s itemized wage statement or separate writing of how many 2022 COVID-19 supplemental PSL hours the employee has used. 2022 COVID-19 supplemental PSL must be listed as a separate line item from “regular” PSL.
Retroactive Payments
The FAQs on the Labor Commissioner’s website explain that covered employees who took qualifying leave between January 1, 2022, and February 19, 2022, but did not receive payments for that leave in amounts required under the new law, can request “retroactive” payments for that leave. The employee must make an oral or written request to the employer to be paid for previously taken time off that was used for a qualifying reason.
After the request is made, the employer has until the payday for the next full pay period to pay the “retroactive” COVID-19 supplemental PSL. On that payday, the employer must also provide accurate notice on the itemized wage statement of how many 2022 COVID-19 supplemental PSL hours have been used by the covered employee.
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Mavanee Anderson, Esq., is Editor of PayState Update and Payroll Information Resources for the APA.
