On May 18, 2021, Los Angeles County passed an urgency ordinance requiring some employers to provide additional paid leave for employees to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. This leave is to be provided if employees exhaust the COVID-19 supplemental paid sick leave required by the State.

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Eligibility

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This legislation applies to all private employers in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Both full-time and part-time employees are covered under this ordinance.

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Provisions

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Eligible employers must provide paid leave that includes time spent for:

• traveling to and from a COVID-19 vaccine appointment,
• receiving the COVID-19 vaccine injection, and
• recovering from any symptoms related to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine that prevent them from being able to work or telework.

For the purposes of this ordinance, “Full-time employees” are defined as those employees the employer considers to work full-time or who worked or were scheduled to work, on average, at least 40 hours per week in the two weeks preceding this leave. Full-time employees are entitled to a maximum of 4 hours of additional paid leave per vaccine injection. Part-time employees—defined as any employees that are not full-time—are entitled to the prorated amount of four hours per injection based on their normally scheduled work hours over the two-week period preceding the injection.

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Employees must be compensated at their normal rate of pay, calculated based on their highest average two-week pay during the period between January 1, 2021 through May 18, 2021.

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This paid leave is only available if employees exhaust all available supplemental paid sick leave mandated by the State of California, and must be provided in addition to any other job-protected paid leave employees are entitled to under California’s Healthy Workplace Healthy Family Act.

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Notification and Record-Keeping Requirements

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Covered employers are required to post a written notice, which will soon be created by the Los Angeles County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, in a conspicuous place where employees work. Affected employers must also maintain records demonstrating compliance with this ordinance, including payroll records for each employee.

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Effective Time Period

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As an urgency ordinance, the above provisions took effect immediately. The ordinance applies retroactively to January 1, 2021 and will expire on August 31, 2021.

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Resources for California Employers

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Read the full text of the urgency ordinance here.

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Monitor the LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affair’s website for a posting of the required written notice associated with this ordinance here.

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Access information on Los Angeles County’s Unincorporated Areas here.

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Learn more about California’s recently expanded supplemental paid sick leave requirements here.

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If you have questions regarding the application of LA County’s newly mandated COVID-19 Vaccine Leave to your business, please contact one of the following attorneys in The Maloney Firm’s Employment Law Department: Patrick Maloney, Lisa Von Eschen, Samantha Botros, or Nicholas Grether.

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