Two Important Bills for Employers Pending Before California Legislature

There are a slew of bills pending before the California Legislature that, if passed, will impact California employers. Two such bills are Senate Bill (SB) 731 and 616.

SB 731 – Remote Work as an Accommodation. SB 731 would authorize an employee with a qualifying disability to initiate a renewed request for reasonable accommodation to perform their work remotely if certain requirements are met, including that the employee performed their essential job functions remotely for at least 6 of the 24 months preceding the renewed request.

SB 616 – Dramatically Increased Paid Sick Leave. If passed, SB 616 would amend California’s statewide paid sick leave requirements to change accrual methods and increase the total amount of sick leave an employee may accrue annually from 24 hours (3 days) to 56 hours (7 days), with a maximum accrual of 112 hours (14 days). Importantly, this would alter the statewide Paid Sick Leave requirement; several cities and counties, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, already exceed the statewide minimum.