Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed legislation for California workers to once again receive extra paid sick time specifically for COVID-19.
Workers can get up to two weeks paid time off for COVID-19-related reasons under this bill, retroactively to go into effect at the start of this year.
"This is a huge step, we're one of the very few states even considering, let alone having taken the step," said Jenya Cassidy, director of the California Work and Family Coalition, on KCBS Radio's "State of California" on Wednesday.
But some workers may not qualify. Businesses with 25 employees or less are exempt from the legislation.
"Ultimately, it would be good if it covered everybody, because we really need this for the health and well-being of every single worker," said Cassidy. "So that’s just something that we need to keep working on and keep looking at, this should just be a universal right."
This could be achieved by changing business culture, said Cassidy. The exemption doesn’t prohibit a business from offering COVID-19 sick pay on their own.
"I think what we really need to do is sort of normalize it as just one of the business costs that we have," she said. "If a worker is sick we absolutely don’t want them infecting other workers, infecting the public."
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