State legislators approved an extension this week of COVID-specific paid sick leave, keeping it intact through the end of December.
State officials last approved an extension of paid leave for full-time workers in February, requiring businesses with more than 25 employees to provide at least 40 hours of paid sick leave to workers who get infected or care for another person who is sick.
Workers who present proof of their positive COVID test are eligible for an additional 40 hours of paid leave. The requirement applies to all workers who have contracted the virus since Sept. 30, 2021.
The paid leave requirement had been scheduled to run out Sept. 30, 2022, but will now expire on Dec. 31, 2022, if Gov. Gavin Newsom signs the bill including its extension.
State labor leaders applauded the legislature’s passage of the bill and urged Newsom to sign the extension.
“As California’s workers battle the affordability crisis at the same time the transmission of COVID-19 continues to commonly occur in workplaces, schools, and public spaces, we are grateful to see the legislature extend this safety net to families when their breadwinners are sidelined by infection,” California Labor Federation Executive Secretary-Treasurer Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher said in a statement.