Article published 2/18/22; 4:45pm by Erica Filippo (Phillips) of Pink Payroll

New “Covid Sick Pay”.  California has passed a new version of Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (SPSL) that will take effect on February 19, 2022, and apply retroactively back to January 1, 2022.  The law applies to employers with 26 or more employees.       


You can find the information on the California official website at;
https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/COVID19Resources/2022-SPSL-FAQs.html

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND THIS?
As we aren’t your paid HR service, and we actually are not licensed HR Professionals or attorneys, we want to be careful on the info we provide.  We can provide the info from the State websites, but we can’t advise you on what to do.
 
PAID HR ADVICE RESOURCES
If you would like additional paid advice, please check with your HR consultant, HR Attorney, or ask us for a login to the HR Site we pay. We can offer 30 days of access to an HR Service for 75.00. Then, you communicate directly with the HR Staff at that service to get your questions answered.


SETTING UP IN THE PAYROLL SOFTWARE
We can set this up for you in the payroll software.  


We will create 2 codes:  

  • SPSL Standard

  • SPSL PosTest  


You will read the California rules to see when to use each type.  As always, when you pay an employee at payroll time, you enter it into the payroll software using the proper code.


You can use these to pay employees, no balances used are tracked.  However, the used year-to-date amounts ARE TRACKED, so you have everything you need to insure you don't over pay, as long as you look at the reports. Employees will see the same on their paystubs.

We can get this setup within 24 hours of you requesting it.  We will waive all charges for this setup.

ADJUSTMENTS TO PAID SICK
If you previously paid out sick leave in 2022, to an employee who was absent due to COVID, we can transfer regular sick pay to this CovSick SPSL on the next payroll you run.  You can enter a negative for the original sick time, and a positive number for the CovSick SPSL, then at payroll processing it updates.

 

ARE THERE GOVERNMENT CREDITS OR REIMBURSEMENTS?
At this time, there is not.  We understand this can be quite an expense.  We recommend you contact your legislators to make your voice heard.

Here are some highlights of the California SPSL New Law:

  • For employers with 26 or more employees

  • Retroactive to Jan 1, 2022

  • Effective immediately

  • All other info on the State DIR Website
     

Recommended Next Steps for Employers

  • Contact us at Pink Payroll and ask us to set up the paycodes.  We will work diligently to get this setup asap.

  • If you want a different paycode name than what we specified above, please request what you would like.  However, for clarity for our team, we prefer to use just the ones we provided.


  • If you are not comfortable interpreting the rules yourself, email us and ask for the $75.00 HR Service.  We will get you a login to get education online as well as to be able to communicate either by ticket or by phone with an HR professional at Mammoth HR (not our company).