California Governor Gavin Newsom announces that there's has been an agreement reached with other state lawmakers to extend paid sick leave due to COVID.
The agreement was announced on Tuesday, and will be fast-tracked by lawmakers in the upcoming weeks, with the intention of finalizing the legislation through budget action.
“California’s ability to take early budget action will protect workers and provide real relief to businesses reeling from this latest surge,” State lawmakers stated. “By extending sick leave to frontline workers with COVID and providing support for California businesses, we can help protect the health of our workforce, while also ensuring that businesses and our economy are able to thrive.”
The benefit that was initially placed had an expiration tag of September 30, and it applied to workers that were employed by companies with over 25 employees, who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and are unable to work from home or remotely. In addition, the benefit had also applied to workers who had to attend a COVID vaccine appointment, or are resting due to vaccine side effects.
Governor Newsom says that the state's ability to take budget quick action on the matter will produce major relief to companies that were impacted by the latest COVID surge over the holiday season.
“California’s ability to take early budget action will protect workers and provide real relief to businesses reeling from this latest surge,” Newsom said Tuesday in a joint press release. “Throughout this pandemic, we have come together to address the immediate impacts COVID-19 continues to have on millions of California families, both at home and at work. By extending sick leave to frontline workers with COVID and providing support for California businesses, we can help protect the health of our workforce, while also ensuring that businesses and our economy are able to thrive. We will continue to work to address additional needs of small businesses through the budget – they are the backbone of our communities and continue to be impacted by COVID-19.”
Other state leaders who contributed to this process are Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and President pro Tempore of the California State Senate Toni G. Atkins.
The exact date for when this legislation goes into effect is still yet to be confirmed by state officials.
