In June, San Francisco voters approved Proposition G, which created the Public Health Emergency Leave Ordinance (PHELO). The ordinance requires private employers to provide paid leave to employees for “public health emergencies.” The ordinance took effect on October 1, 2022. In conjunction with the effective date, San Francisco’s Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) issued a Frequently Asked Questions page to assist with the application of the new law.

The FAQs cover topics including:

• Scope of the Ordinance

• Amount of Leave

• Use of Leave

• Payment for Leave

• Notice and Posting

• Employer Records

Scope of the Ordinance

PHELO applies to employers with 100 or more employees worldwide. The OLSE states that if the number of employees fluctuates above and below 100 in the course of a year, employers should calculate business size based on “the average number of employees per pay period during the preceding calendar year.”

The FAQs also clarify that employees who work at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) are not covered by the ordinance as it is outside the geographic boundaries of San Francisco.

Amount of Leave

The FAQs specify the calculation of leave for employees as follows:

• Full-time regular or fixed schedule employees are entitled to the number of hours over a one-week period that the employee regularly works, not to exceed 40 hours through December 31, 2022. As of January 1, 2023, such employees should get the number of hours the employee would...

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