PAID PARENTAL LEAVE REQUIRED FOR SAN FRANCISCO EMPLOYERS « Law Offices of Timothy Bowles | Top Employment Law Firm in Los Angeles

PAID PARENTAL LEAVE REQUIRED FOR SAN FRANCISCO EMPLOYERS

Groundbreaking Law Creates Paid Time Off for Baby Bonding

As part of their ongoing efforts to establish family-friendly workplaces, the City and County of San Francisco are now the first municipalities in the U.S. to require employers to pay for parental leave.

The San Francisco Paid Parental Leave Ordinance and its amendment (together, PPLO), starting January 1, 2017 for larger companies, direct employers to provide supplemental pay to San Francisco employees who receive state-funded California Paid Family Leave (PFL) benefits for newborn baby bonding.

Eligible workers may receive up to six weeks of PFL benefits – part of California State Disability Insurance (SDI) – while taking approved time off to bond with a newborn baby, newly adopted child, new foster child, or to care for a seriously ill family member.

Under San Francisco’s PPLO, covered employers will have to provide “Supplemental Compensation” to cover the difference between California’s PFL benefits and the employee’s weekly gross pay for such “baby-bonding” leave, up to a maximum of $924.00 per week.

To be eligible to receive Supplemental Compensation, an employee must:

  • Begin employment at least 180 days prior to the start of the PPLO leave period;
  • Work in the geographic boundaries of the City and County of San Francisco for his or her employer a minimum of eight hours per week and at least 40% of his or her total weekly hours; and
  • Be eligible to receive PFL benefits to bond with a new child.

Covered employers must begin to comply with the PPLO on varying dates depending on payroll size:

  • Employers with 50 or more employees by January 1, 2017
  • Employers with 35 or more employees by July 1, 2017
  • Employers with 20 or more employees by January 1, 2018

The San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement is expected to publish a notice for covered employers to post conspicuously at the workplace in English, Spanish, Chinese and in all languages spoken by more than 5% of the employees at the workplace or job site.

For more information, please contact one of our attorneys Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

Cindy Bamforth

November 17, 2016