CALIFORNIA: SF grants reemployment rights after COVID-19 layoffs

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors recently voted to create a temporary right to reemployment following a layoff resulting from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The “Back to Work” emergency ordinance, which took effect July 3, 2020, requires employers in San Francisco with 100 or more employees (immediately before the first layoff) who have laid off 10 or more eligible employees in a 30-day period to offer eligible employees a right to reemployment. To be eligible, employees must have been employed for at least 90 days prior to the notice of layoff related to COVID-19, the layoff must have occurred on or after February 25, 2020 (the date the mayor declared a public health emergency and shelter-in-place order), and must be the result of lack of funds or lack of work resulting from the public health emergency and any shelter-in-place order. When filling the same or substantially similar position as previously held by an eligible laid-off worker, employers with a covered layoff must first offer the eligible laid-off worker the opportunity for reemployment to their former position. If multiple workers were laid off in the same job classification, reemployment offers should be based on the workers’ previous seniority (earliest date of hire) with the employer.

Tips: The ordinance is effective through at least September 1, 2020. It requires employers to give written notice to current and former employees who experienced a qualifying layoff. For layoffs that occurred before the effective date of the ordinance, employers have 30 days to notify laid-off workers of their rights under the ordinance. The San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) is authorized to issue regulations. Health care employers are excluded from coverage under this ordinance. For questions about the requirements of this ordinance and whether it applies to your business, please contact your Vigilant Law Group employment attorney.