Legal Alert: SB 95 COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave and Federal ARPA Payroll Tax Credits

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, both the California Legislature and United States Congress have recently passed legislation to address the impacts of COVID-19 in the workplace. California’s Senate Bill 95 (SB 95) requires employers to provide up to an additional 80 hours of supplemental paid sick leave for COVID-19 related reasons from January 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021.

At the federal level, Congress passed the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) COVID-19 stimulus bill.  ARPA provides payroll tax credits for employers who voluntarily provide COVID-19 related paid sick leave from April 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021 – some of these tax credits can be used for the mandatory supplemental paid sick leave provided by SB 95.  In addition, ARPA also requires employers to provide a 100% subsidy for an employee’s COBRA/Cal-COBRA health insurance continuation costs for certain qualifying reasons between April 1, 2021 and September 30, 2021.

See the attached Alert for more information and contact an attorney in our Employment Group with any questions.

SB 95 Paid Sick Leave and ARPA – Client Alert