Agenda #: 5.4
Meeting Date: November 21, 2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Daniel Fox, City Manager
TITLE: AMENDMENT TO THE CITY’S PERSONNEL RULES AND
REGULATIONS
STRATEGIC
GOAL: Open, Engaged & Responsive Government
RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt Resolution No. 2023-33 amending the City’s Personnel Rules and Regulations Rule VII (Attendance and Leaves) Section 3 Sick Leave Effective January 1, 2024.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
There is no direct financial impact to the 2023-24 FY budget associated with this recommendation.
BACKGROUND:
Governor Gavin Newsom recently signed Senate Bill No. 616 (SB 616), an amendment to existing state law known as the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (Act), to set a statewide minimum standard for Paid Sick Leave. The Act established a minimum number of paid sick leave hours that employers are required to allow employees to use beginning July 1, 2015. SB 616 expands that obligation from 24 to 40 hours per year. In accordance with the Personnel Rules and Regulations, any update must be amended by Resolution of the City Council.
ANALYSIS:
The City’s current policy in the Personnel Rules and Regulations Rule VII (Attendance and Leaves) Section 3 Sick Leave allows part-time non-benefitted employees to use 24 hours of paid sick leave after 90 days of employment each year. After initial employment, all paid sick leave banks are reset to 24 hours on July 1st of every year.
The main provisions of the amended paid sick leave law include the following:
• An employee who, on or after January 1, 2024, works in California for 30 or more days within a year, from the beginning of employment, is entitled to paid sick leave.
• Paid sick leave eligibility begins on the first day of employment and the employee can use 24 hours of paid sick leave after 90 days of employment. • An additional 16 hours of paid sick leave time must be made available to the employee by the 200th day of employment for an annual total of 40 hours. • An employer can establish an annual paid sick leave bank for an employee to use during the year by giving the employee 40 hours of sick leave at the beginning of the year.
• Employers must provide written notice to employees about the amount of paid sick leave they have available, such as including their current balance on their pay stubs.
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a resolution to amend the Personnel Rules and Regulations that would increase paid sick leave benefits to parttime/seasonal/intermittent employees from 24 to 40 hours per year, starting on January 1 st and every year thereafter, in order to comply with the mandatory requirements of SB 616. The current paid sick leave benefit amounts for full-time and part-time benefitted already meet and/or exceed the paid sick leave requirements and will remain unchanged. The revised sick leave policy in the Personnel Rules and Regulations will be effective January 1, 2024.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed and approved the Resolution as to form.
PREPARED BY:
REVIEWED BY:
Attachments:
1. 5.4.a Resolution No. 2023-33
2. 5.4.b Exhibit A