Tala Doumani is a student at Harvard Law School.
Yesterday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a new COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave plan. Under the new plan, employees are eligible for up to 80 hours of paid leave for COVID-19 related absences. The statute, which was codified in the California Labor Code, applies to employers with 26 or more employees. The scope of what qualifies for a COVID-19 related absence is broadly construed – including use for employees who have been advised to quarantine, those caring for COVID-19 positive family members, and attending vaccination appointments. In announcing the law, Newsom’s administration stated that “[p]aid sick leave is key to ensuring workers don’t have to make the impossible choice between going to work sick or losing wages needed to pay rent and keep food on the table.” Unlike in previous federal and state paid sick leave programs, Californian employers are responsible for the costs of the additional time off (with the opportunity for government support down the road). The law retroactively applies to January 1, 2022, and is set to expire on September 30, 2022.
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February 13
Sex workers in Nevada fight to become the nation’s first to unionize; industry groups push NLRB to establish a more business-friendly test for independent contractor status; and UFCW launches an anti-AI price setting in grocery store campaign.
February 12
Teamsters sue UPS over buyout program; flight attendants and pilots call for leadership change at American Airlines; and Argentina considers major labor reforms despite forceful opposition.
February 11
Hollywood begins negotiations for a new labor agreement with writers and actors; the EEOC launches an investigation into Nike’s DEI programs and potential discrimination against white workers; and Mayor Mamdani circulates a memo regarding the city’s Economic Development Corporation.
February 10
San Francisco teachers walk out; NLRB reverses course on SpaceX; NYC nurses secure tentative agreements.
February 9
FTC argues DEI is anticompetitive collusion, Supreme Court may decide scope of exception to forced arbitration, NJ pauses ABC test rule.
February 8
The Second Circuit rejects a constitutional challenge to the NLRB, pharmacy and lab technicians join a California healthcare strike, and the EEOC defends a single better-paid worker standard in Equal Pay Act suits.