Rules Committee forwards emergency ordinance expanding limited paid leave for health care providers

San Francisco ' The Rules Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on April 13, 2020 voted unanimously to forward an emergency ordinance that temporarily requires private employers with 500 or more employees to provide public health emergency leave during the COVID-19 emergency.

Supervisor Marr said the committee vote advances a substantive amendment that narrows allowable uses of the city's public health emergency leave for health care providers while expanding paid leave for frontline medical staff. "It goes without saying that healthcare providers should not go to work when they're sick or quarantined," Marr said. "This ordinance will ensure that they don't have to by giving them expanded paid leave to use if they're sick or quarantine." She said the amendment applies only to employees who are health care providers and that employers who already offer expanded paid leave meeting the ordinance's standard could count that time toward the additional 80 hours the ordinance contemplates.

Marr told the committee she consulted with the Department of Public Health on the language and said staff had discussed the matter with local hospital interests and Northeast Medical Services; she also said Kaiser Permanente submitted a letter seeking an exemption but that she disagreed with exempting health care providers. The amendment, she said, was crafted to balance protecting public health and avoiding short-staffing at medical facilities by keeping uses "incredibly narrow" and limited to cases where it is in the interest of public health for a provider not to work.

There was no public comment on the item. Chair Supervisor Hillary Ronan moved to forward the ordinance to the full Board as a committee report with a recommendation. The clerk conducted a roll-call vote: Supervisor Catherine Stephanie, "Aye;" Supervisor Gordon Mart, "Aye;" Chair Ronan, "Aye." The motion passed 3-0. The matter was recommended as a committee report to the Board meeting on April 14 for further consideration.

The Rules Committee adjourned after the vote.