On February 7, 2022, there were two big COVID-19-related news developments in the Golden State: First, Gov. Newsom announced that California’s mask mandates would expire on February 15th. Second, the legislature voted to enact Assembly Bill 84 (“AB 84”), a law that would re-enact California’s 2020 supplemental COVID-19 leave law, and provide up to 80 hours of supplemental sick leave for reasons related to COVID-19. AB 84 now heads to Gov. Newsom, who is anticipated to sign it into law.

As previously reported (here), California originally enacted a supplemental COVID-19 sick leave law back in September 2020 to cover employers not subject to the leave provisions of the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Although the leave statute initially expired in December 2020, the legislature re-enacted the supplemental COVID-19 sick leave law in March 2021, with retroactive effect back to January 2021. Yet, that too expired in September of last year and, since then, only local COVID-19 leave laws have been in place. Until now.

If signed into law, AB 84 will provide eligible employees who work for employers with at least 25 employees with supplemental paid sick leave to use when they are unable to work or telework because:

1. They are subject a quarantine or isolation period related to COVID-19 as defined by an order or guidance of the California Department of Public Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or a local public health officer;

2. They have been...

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