Philadelphia Enacts Public Health Emergency Leave

On March 29, 2021, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed into law an important piece of legislation that requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide a form of paid sick leave to their employees for reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This leave is available to qualified employees until the expiration of the COVID-19 pandemic. The purpose of this local ordinance is to replace the federal paid leave benefits that expired on December 31, 2020 along with many provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA).

Who is eligible for Public Health Emergency Leave?

Public Health Emergency Leave applies to all employers with 50 or more employees and employees who have worked for their employer for more than 90 days and do any of the following:

Work within Philadelphia;
Normally work in Philadelphia but are currently teleworking due to COVID-19; or
Work 51% or more of the time inside Philadelphia.

However, an employee is not eligible if they already receive 160 hours or more in paid time off that can be used for sick leave. For example, if an employee receives four or more vacation weeks per year, they will not be eligible.

What amount of leave does the ordinance provide?

Employees who are full-time or work 40 hours or more per week are entitled to 80 hours of paid leave.

Employees who work fewer than 40 hours per week are entitled to twice the number of weekly hours they worked or were scheduled to work, whichever is higher, over the last 90 working days. For example, if an employee works 20 hours per week, they will receive a total of 40 hours of leave time under the ordinance.

When can I take Public Health Emergency Leave?

Eligible employees can take this leave if:

A public health authority, health care professional or their employer determines that the employee’s presence on the job would jeopardize the health of others because of the employee’s exposure to COVID-19 or to care for a family member for this reason;
The employee is exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 regardless of whether the employee has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or to care for a family member experiencing symptoms;
An employee needs to self-isolate and care for oneself because they are diagnosed with COVID-19 or to care for a family member diagnosed with COVID-19;
An employee must seek or obtain a medical diagnosis, care or treatment if experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 or to care for a family member doing the same;
The employee needs to care for a child if the school or place of care of the child has been closed, or the childcare provider of such child is unavailable due to precautions related to COVID-19;
An employee needs to obtain a vaccine for COVID-19; or
An employee needs to recover from any side effects from receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

What protections for workers does the ordinance provide?

In order to protect these new employee rights, the law contains an enforcement mechanism to ensure workers have the ability to use Public Health Emergency Leave. If an employee takes leave under the ordinance to which they are entitled, an employer is prohibited from discharging, disciplining or otherwise retaliating against the employee for doing so.

If an employee believes their rights have been violated, they can file a complaint through the City’s Department of Labor or take legal action through the Pennsylvania court system. The skilled attorneys at Willig, Williams & Davidson can assist you through this process.

You might also be interested in:

U.S. Families First Coronavirus Response Act Client Alert

Unemployment Insurance in the Wake of COVID-19