The City of Philadelphia has enacted Bill 220051-A, which amends its Public Health Emergency law (PHEL). Bill 220051-A took effect on March 9, 2022, and is set to expire on December 31, 2023.
Background:
In September 2020, Philadelphia issued a paid sick leave ordinance, Ordinance 200303, that amended the City's paid sick and safe time law. The amendments required new public health emergency leave (PHEL) and pay protections for employees, gig workers and others that did not receive leave under the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).
The Details:
Philadelphia has passed Bill 220051-A, which requires employers with at least 25 employees to provide paid sick leave (PHEL) to employees who:
- Work in the City, or work for an employer in the City (normally) but are teleworking from somewhere else due to COVID-19; or
- Work for their employer from multiple (or mobile) locations if they spend 51% or more of their time in the City.
Note: PHEL leave is in addition to all other paid leave benefits. Employers cannot reduce PHEL leave by the amount of paid leave that an employee has previously received, and they cannot require an employee to use other paid leave that's available to them before the employee is allowed to use PHEL leave.
Bill 220051-A covers all employees who are expected to report in-person to their jobs.
Covered Leave:
Employees may use PHEL leave to:
- Recover from, or avoid exposing others to, COVID-19;
- Care for family members who have COVID-19 or have symptoms that might jeopardize others' health;
- Care for a child whose school or place of care has closed due to COVID-19; or
- Receive a COVID-19 vaccine or booster shot (and address any side effects related to such vaccination).
Amount of Leave:
Employers must provide – rather than have employees accrue –up to 40 hours of paid sick leave to employees who work 40 or more hours a week, unless the employer sets a higher limit. If an employee works less than forty hours per week, the employee is entitled to leave that is equal to the amount of time that they’re scheduled to work (or actually work) on average in a seven-day period (whichever is greater).
Employees whose hours fluctuate weekly must calculate leave based on the average number of daily hours they were scheduled to over the past 90 days of work.
Policy Requirements:
If employees receive paid leave in 2022 that can be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions as COVID-19 leave, employers are not required to change any existing policies or provide additional paid leave when:
- The employees who complete a majority of their work by telework receive at least 80 hours of paid leave; or
- An employer's policy provides 120 hours (or more) of paid leave.
Pay Requirements:
Employers must compensate employees with their regular rate of pay and their regular benefits.
Notice Requirements:
Employers must provide notice of the updated PHEL law to employees by March 24, 2022. Employees must notify their employer of the need to use PHEL leave as practical and feasible when the need is foreseeable.
Next Steps:
- Read the text of the law in full and ensure compliance.
- Train supervisors on how to handle requests for PHEL leave.
- Post the required notice.
- Review and revise policies and practices if necessary.