The California Legislature on Thursday voted to expand paid sick leave for about 10.4 million workers, sending a bill to Gov. Gavin Newsom that mandates up to two weeks of paid time off for circumstances including COVID-19 symptoms, scheduling a vaccine or child care and schooling.
The bill, if it is signed into law, applies to companies with at least 25 employees. The rules would expire Sept. 30 and are retroactive to Jan. 1. Some companies would have to pay their workers for time off they have already taken.
Many companies can get that money back from the federal government, which offers companies a payroll tax credit of up to $511 a day for each employee who takes the paid sick leave. The tax credit is enough to cover workers who make $60 an hour or less, said state Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), the bill’s primary author.
California companies with fewer than 25 employees can offer the paid leave and claim the federal tax credit. But they would not be required to do so under the bill. Newsom has not said whether he will sign the bill into law. He signed a similar law last year that expired Dec. 31.
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