sf.citi members,
I hope you all are doing well this afternoon.
I’m writing today to provide you with a rundown of our call with Supervisor Mar and his Chief of Staff, Edward Wright, regarding the “Temporary Right to Reemployment Following Layoff Due to COVID-19 Pandemic” emergency ordinance. Meeting attendees included SF Chamber, SF Hotel Council, GGRA, and the Committee on Jobs.
Our conversation was constructive and the Supervisor was open to hearing our collective concerns surrounding his proposed ordinance. Supervisor Mar made clear that the legislation delves into a new area of policy and, as such, his intention was to make the introduced version broad enough to invite feedback and proposed amendments from both labor and the collective business community. The concerns we brought forth included the legislation’s 90-day retention requirement, collective bargaining agreements, the definition of “similar” in section 6(b) as it pertains to rehiring employees for the same or similar positions, and the overall administrative requirements that will further burden employers who are trying to get back on their feet.
Amendments Discussed
The Supervisor discussed several amendments that have been decided upon and that he will be considering, including the following:
- In efforts to assuage some of the administrative burdens, the opt-in requirement will be eliminated and they will drop the requirement for employers to provide a list of employees that have been laid off.
- Will provide clarification that the notification period is longer for retroactive notifications.
- Will remove requirement to request that affected employees authorize their employer to provide their name and contact information to the City for unemployment data collection in order to maintain privacy for workers
- Regarding the 90 day reemployment period, they will be adding a carve-out for employees that were dismissed due to misconduct.
- Will include salary level to the definition of employee. Eligible employees will be those who are at 120% AMI or lower (we are still looking into this, but expect this to be around $110,000).
- Will carve out an exemption for hospitals
- Will provide clarification on employment offers to extend beyond mail correspondence and include email and texting options
- Will consider a carve-out for small businesses and are working on identifying the correct definition that would apply.
We understand the 90-day retention requirement is of top priority to the membership and, as such, this was emphasized on multiple occasions to the Supervisor who expressed amenability to considering an amendment. Also, the Supervisor mentioned he understands that collective bargaining agreements do not account for the impact of a pandemic, however, it is our impression that the Supervisor is feeling pressure from labor about changing any aspects of these agreements. Lastly, we also recommended to have the City Attorney’s Office handle all legal enforcement claims, and the Supervisor expressed he would discuss this proposal further with City Attorney Herrera, although he was not aware of the City Attorney’s Office playing such a broad enforcement role in the past. As always, we will keep you updated on how these conversations unfold. We expect to see an amended version of the legislation next week.
Permanent Back to Work legislation
Additionally, the Supervisor provided insight into his intention to introduce a second, permanent piece of legislation that will be identical to the emergency ordinance with one noted change to the eligibility time frame – extending the eligibility period to two years from the date an employee was laid off during the pandemic. This permanent ordinance will ensure employees who are laid off during the emergency order are still eligible for rehire protections up to two years after the date they were laid off, even if we are not in the midst of a state of emergency during that time. We are seeking clarity to see if the permanent legislation would pertain to emergencies outside of the current COVID-19 pandemic and we will keep you updated once we know more.
Time frame for both pieces of legislation
As businesses are starting to incrementally reopen, the Supervisor’s hope is to have it heard at a special meeting at the Government Oversight and Oversight (GAO) committee next Friday (5/29) or at the next regularly scheduled GAO committee meeting the following Thursday (6/4). The Supervisor indicated that after the emergency ordinance is heard at committee, the permanent piece of legislation will be introduced at the full Board of Supervisors.
With that said, collective business advocacy groups will move forward with a letter that outlines our top concerns:
- The continued administrative burden on businesses, especially for small businesses
- The 90 day re-employment term
- The issue around the private right of legal action
- Section 6(b) – Offer of Reemployment Following Layoff to Similar Position
We will continue to keep you apprised of the status of the letter, as we plan on sending it to the Supervisor on Tuesday (5/26). Additionally, we will keep you updated on the timing of both pieces of legislation as they are calendared, and the answers to several questions as outlined above.
Please let me know if you have any questions and thank you for your continued membership.
Jen
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