Labor & Employment Law Blog

On May 12, 2020, the Oakland City Council approved an ordinance establishing emergency paid sick leave for Oakland employees during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Oakland now joins several other jurisdictions in California in taking action to supplement the emergency sick leave already provided by the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

The counties of Fresno, Napa, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Solano, Sonoma, and Ventura are the latest to join the growing group of counties which have sought and received variances from the California Department of Public Health to proceed into California’s Advanced Stage 2 reopening.  The variances generally authorize restaurants to re-open for dining-in and retailers to re-open for in-store shopping across the eight counties.  A few of the counties’ Orders also permit additional types of businesses to reopen.

The City of Long Beach, California enacted a new supplemental paid sick leave ordinance on May 19, 2020, which is effective immediately.  The ordinance applies to employers with 500 or more employees nationally and excludes those who are required to provide paid sick leave benefits under the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act. 

On Saturday, May 23, Orange County obtained approval from the State for its variance request to move further into Stage Two of the California Resiliency Roadmap, allowing Orange County restaurants to reopen for dine-in service and previously closed destination retailers to welcome customers back for in-store shopping, provided the businesses follow County and State guidelines for reopening, as explained below.

Last night, after submitting requests to the State for approval to move forward, San Diego County became the first highly-populated county^[1] to receive a variance from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) which allows San Diego County to advance further forward through Stage 2 of the reopening plan. 

On May 19, 2020, the United States District Court for the Central District of California rejected a challenge to a provision of Assembly Bill 5 (“AB 5”) applicable to construction trucking companies. (Western States Trucking Ass’n v. Becerra, et al., 5:19-CV-02447-CAS (KKx) (5-18-2020)).

California has begun to reopen some non-essential businesses.  Many counties, including Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Marin, San Francisco, and San Mateo (just to name some), have issued orders to enter the State’s initial Phase 2 plan.  In addition, Santa Clara County has issued an order that will be effective on May 22, 2020 that also allows some non-essential businesses to reopen.  In the initial Phase 2 plan, certain specified businesses may open, such as retail businesses (for curbside pickup only), subject to compliance with state and local directives for safety.  This often includes the implementation of written protocols, which vary jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction and industry-to-industry.  Over the weekend, the CDC also issued industry-specific guidelines for consideration in the reopening process, which may be accessed here at Appendix F. 

On May 7, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order N-63-20, which allows reprieve for a number of labor-related administrative functions performed by the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), the Division of Workers’ Compensation, and the Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA).  

Last week, officials for the County of Los Angeles and the City and County of San Francisco announced that they will be allowing certain businesses to resume operations.

To assist employees in making informed healthcare decisions and employers in providing employees with the required notice of their rights, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has issued revised model COBRA notices reflecting COBRA’s interaction with Medicare.