Update on three new COVID-related laws covering NUHW members

NewsSeptember 23, 2020

• Requires that employees in high-risk settings who test positive for COVID-19 — including police officers, firefighters, home care workers, and health care facility employees who provide direct patient care or who are custodial employees in contact with COVID-19 patients — are presumed to have contracted COVID-19 on the job and are therefore entitled to workers’ compensation covering lost wages and medical costs.
• For other healthcare facility employees, this presumption does not apply if the employer can show that the employee did not have contact with a COVID-19-positive patient at the facility within the 14-days prior to making a workers’ compensation claim.
• Employers will have 30 days after a claim is filed to deny it.
• Employees must exhaust any paid sick leave benefits that have been made available to them specifically for COVID-19 before they can access any benefits under SB 1159.
• Earlier this year, Governor Newsom issued an Executive Order to this effect but that order expired on July 5, 2020. This new law effectively extends the terms of that executive order from July 6, 2020 until January 1, 2023.
• This law takes effect immediately and covers cases retroactive to July 6, 2020.

• Requires large private-sector employers with 500 or more employees to provide employees with supplemental paid sick time for COVID-19-related absences. An existing federal law, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, already requires employers with fewer than 500 employees to do so.
• Applies to public employers (such as healthcare districts) that employ health care workers or emergency responders.
• Does not cover employees who work from home.
• Entitles full-time employees to 80 hours of supplemental paid sick leave (part-time employees get less, on a pro-rata formula basis) for any of the following reasons:
  • The employee is subject to a federal, state, or local quarantine or isolation order related to COVID-19;
  • The employee is advised by a healthcare provider to self-quarantine or self-isolate due to concerns related to COVID-19; or
  • The employee is prohibited from working by the employer due to health concerns related to the potential transmission of COVID-19.
• An employer may not require an employee to first use any other employer-paid leave. However, if an employer already provides employees with supplemental COVID sick leave that pays them at least the same amount as required by the new law, the employer may count those hours toward meeting its requirements under the legislation.
• COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave is in addition to any paid sick leave the employee may be entitled to under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, Labor Code section 246 (“HWHFA”). This benefit requires employers to provide up to 80 hours of supplemental paid sick leave to employees if they are directed by their employer to self-quarantine, isolate or not report to work due to COVID-19 exposure, symptoms, and/or illness.
• If an employer illegally withholds COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave, they may be subject to a penalty of at least $250 per day, but not to exceed $4,000 in the aggregate.
• This law is effective immediately and expires December 31, 2020 or upon the expiration of any extension of the federal Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act, whichever is later.

• Requires that within one business day, they be notified of potential exposure to anyone known or presumed to be COVID-positive in the specific location where they work;
• Protects them from retaliation for reporting positive cases;
• Ensures that they are made aware of sick leave and other benefits.

• Empowers CalOSHA to issue citations more quickly and shut down worksites where COVID-19 presents an imminent threat.
• Takes effect on January 1, 2021 and sunsets on January 1, 2023.