The San José City Council voted unanimously to develop the most expansive emergency paid sick leave ordinance in the nation. The policy will fill the three largest gaps in recently passed federal law, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, by covering workers at large corporations, small businesses, and misclassified gig workers.
Next Tuesday, April 7th, the Council will vote on putting the policy into effect as an urgency ordinance, combining recommendations by Councilmembers Maya Esparza, Magdalena Carrasco, and Sylvia Arenas and Mayor Sam Liccardo.
The San José Council voted to cover the major classes of workers that could be left out of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which went into effect April 1st — businesses with more than 500 workers, employers with less than 50 employees, and misclassified gig workers. All of these workers would have access to 14 days of income replacement for paid sick days. The ordinance would provide this protection to workers through February 2021, in line with the federal law.
Because the ordinance only applies during this emergency, San José remains the only one of the four largest cities in California without a permanent paid sick leave policy.
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