San Francisco Implements Paid Parental Leave January 1, 2017

San Francisco will begin the three-part phase in of the city’s Paid Parental Leave Law beginning January 1, 2017.  The phase in period is as follows:

• Employers with 50 or more employees must comply by 1/1/17.
• Employers with 35 or more employees must comply by 7/1/17.
• Employers with 20 or more employees must comply by 1/1/18.

Who is Eligible?

There are four criteria to determine which employees are eligible for the paid parental leave benefits:

• Employees are covered if their employment began at least 120 days (four months) prior to commencement of the leave period.
• Employees must work at least eight (8) hours per week for an employer of San Francisco.
• At least 40% of the total weekly hours worked by an employee must have been worked in San Francisco.
• The employees must be eligible to receive paid family leave under the state’s Paid Family Leave law for purpose of bonding with a new child.

What the Paid Parental Leave Benefit Provides?

During the leave period, eligible employers are required to provide supplemental compensation so that the combination of the California Paid Family Leave compensation plus the Paid Parental Leave compensation together equals 100% of the employee’s gross weekly wage. The Paid Parental Leave ordinance requires employers to pay the remainder of the employee’s weekly wages during the 6-week leave period, up to a cap as defined in the ordinance.

Employees who request Paid Parental Leave must initiate the request by completing the Paid Parental Leave Form.  Both the San Francisco Paid Parental Leave Poster and Leave Form are required and have been provided through the city.  San Francisco has numerous labor laws, which have mandatory posting requirements.

The new San Francisco Paid Parental Leave Poster and Leave Request Form joins five other posters required for businesses in the city.  Other posting requirements include:  Minimum Wage Notice, Paid Sick Leave Notice, Health Care Security Ordinance (HCSO), Family-Friendly Work Ordinance (FFWO) and the Fair Chance Ordinance (Ban the Box).  These posters, in addition to the standard California State and federal postings, should be monitored regularly to ensure compliance.  The Labor Law Center offers a worry-free service to our customers through our Poster Service Plan with automatic replacements.  What this means is that we monitor the state and federal postings and automatically send you updates when they are released.  It is that simple!