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Board expands emergency paid‑leave protections to health‑care workers, adopts ordinance
Summary
An emergency ordinance expanding public health emergency leave to private employees — including specified protections for health‑care workers — passed unanimously after technical amendments clarifying eligibility and payout sequencing.
The Board of Supervisors on April 14 adopted an amended emergency ordinance creating public health emergency leave for private sector workers during the COVID‑19 emergency and expanding coverage to certain health‑care providers who had been exempted in earlier federal and local rules.
Supervisor Mar introduced the ordinance and explained that public health emergency leave is a distinct leave category (not merely paid sick leave) that allows workers to take paid time off for a range of emergency uses, including quarantine, care of school‑closed children and shielding of vulnerable workers. Members described the ordinance as balancing protections for frontline health‑care staff while preserving staffing levels for critical providers.
Committee amendments and a subsequent technical amendment narrowed health‑care provider leave uses to protect staffing — for example allowing health‑care providers to use leave when symptomatic or when advised by a health care professional to self‑quarantine. The ordinance also clarified that part‑time workers receive leave in proportion to their typical weekly hours and eliminated a minimum‑hours requirement for eligibility.
The amendments were agreed and the emergency ordinance was approved on a unanimous roll call. Sponsors said the ordinance aimed to protect frontline workers, maintain staffing where possible, and provide wage support during the emergency.
Why it matters: The measure creates a new leave category during an ongoing public‑health emergency, expands coverage to private‑sector health‑care workers and aims to reduce workplace transmission while supporting staffing needs.
What’s next: Departments will implement the leave rules and employers will be expected to comply; the ordinance is effective immediately under the City Charter emergency provision.
