In response to COVID-19, California and several California cities and counties adopted COVID-19 emergency paid sick leave orders or ordinances, but after three years of COVID-19, many of those ordinances have ended or are ending soon. California’s COVID-19 state supplemental paid sick leave expired on December 31, 2022, and prior to that it was announced that California’s COVID-19 state of emergency will end on February 28, 2023. Now, Los Angeles city is lifting its own local state of emergency, which will also bring an end to its local COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave.
In December 2022, the Los Angeles City Council voted to end the local state of emergency in February 2023. On January 10, 2023, the Council confirmed this decision and announced the state of emergency would end on February 1, 2023.
So, how does this impact the city’s local COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave? The emergency order providing for the leave remains in effect until two weeks after the local COVID-19 state of emergency is lifted. Since the Los Angeles city local state of emergency will end February 1, 2023, the supplemental paid sick leave will expire two weeks later on February 15, 2023.
Three other localities still have local COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave in place — Los Angeles County, Long Beach and Oakland — but they haven’t indicated when they intend to end the local COVID-19 state of emergency, which will impact the lifespan of two of the three localities’ COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave. Currently, both Oakland and Los Angeles County will end their supplemental COVID-19 paid sick leave two weeks after their local state of emergency ends — whenever that may be. Long Beach determines whether to extend the state of emergency based on quarterly reports from the City Manager.
In the meantime, employers should make sure they’re complying with any applicable local COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave rules, and keep an eye on your local states of emergency and related ordinances. Stay tuned to HRWatchdog!
Sarah Woolston, Employment Law Counsel/Subject Matter Expert
CalChamber members can read more about other Los Angeles city local ordinances on HRCalifornia. Not a member? See how CalChamber can help you.
