L.A. City Council Approves Extra Sick Time for Coronavirus

The Los Angeles City Council late Friday approved a paid sick leave ordinance relating to the coronavirus pandemic, in addition to deliberating “Right to Recall” and “Right of Retention” ordinances in an 11-hour emergency e-meeting. In the amended sick leave rule, the Council voted that businesses with 500 employees or more will be required to pay full-time employees an additional two weeks of paid sick leave related to the pandemic; part-time employees for such companies will be granted supplemental sick leave based on an average two-week pay over the period of Feb. 3 through March 4. “Without the changes that were made to the Paid Sick Leave ordinance, it would have undoubtedly prevented all businesses to recover from mandatory closures and revenue loss, so we commend the City Council’s understanding on the need to make informed decisions and not ones that are impulsive,” Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, said in a statement. If the measure is signed by Mayor Eric Garcetti, it will close a loophole made by the federal Family First Coronavirus Response Act that makes a similar requirement for paid sick leave, but for businesses with 499 or fewer workers. Exemptions were written in for certain businesses with 50 or fewer employees. “Right to Recall” and “Right of Retention” ordinances were discussed at length at the Council meeting, although councilmembers did not vote to adopt the ordinances. Instead, members voted to “adopt to continue” discussions of measures which would dictate hiring and firing requirements for businesses in Los Angeles. “The proposed ordinances would have had tremendous ramifications for employers and workers in the San Fernando Valley and throughout Los Angeles as they were written,” VICA said in its statement.