On September 29, 2022, Governor Newsom signed AB 152 into law, extending California’s Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (“SPSL”) law from September 30, 2022 to December 31, 2022. Employers with 26 or more employees must provide up to 80 hours of COVID-19 related paid sick leave.
AB 152 establishes a grant program to reimburse employers for SPSL provided between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022. The grants are capped at $50,000 and are available to employers with the following conditions:
- Employers with 26 to 49 employees which are currently active, and operating before June 1, 2021 as a “C” corporation, “S” corporation, cooperative, limited liability company, partnership, or limited partnership, registered 501(c)(3), 501(c)(6), or 501(c)(19)
- Employers which provided SPSL pursuant to Labor Code sections 248.6 and 248.7; and
- Employers which provide their Article of Incorporation or other organizing documents as well as their prior tax returns for 2020 and 2021.
AB 152 does not change the qualifying reasons for SPSL.
AB 152 does not change the amount that employees are entitled to receive in SPSL.
The prior law placed a total cap on SPSL of 80 hours between January 1, 2022 to September 30, 2022. This cap still applies until December 31, 2022. Note that if an employee has already used all their eligible SPSL, the Employer is not required to provide any additional leave.
There are additional requirements that employers must be aware of for compliance. Please contact JoLynn Scharrer with your questions about this and the other new laws enacted in the past month!