Wed, 03/24/2021
Effective March 22, 2021, San Francisco became the latest jurisdiction in California to require large grocery and retail pharmacy stores to pay their workers COVID-19 hazard pay. Under the San Francisco ordinance, grocery and drug stores with 500 or more employees worldwide, and at least 20 employees in the City, must pay employees an additional five dollars per hour (up to a total hourly wage of $35/hour) during the COVID-19 public health emergency.
Other municipalities across California have enacted similar laws. For example, an ordinance in San Mateo enacted on March 1, 2021 requires grocery and drug stores that employ at least 750 employees nationwide to provide hazard pay of $5/hour to workers. That ordinance is in effect until May 30, 2021. Likewise, Alameda recently enacted an ordinance requiring grocery stores with 500 or more employees nationwide who primarily sell food and have stores of at least 15,000 square feet in the City to pay workers $5/hour in hazard pay.
Although the grocery store owners are challenging these ordinances, a federal judge in Seattle recently dismissed a similar challenge in that city. In January, the Seattle City Council approved hazard pay for workers at large grocery stores for as long as the city has a civil emergency relating to COVID-19. The judge dismissed the stores’ claims that the pay increase interfered with collective bargaining and discriminated against large stores. A judge in California dismissed a similar lawsuit against the City of Long Beach in February, allowing the City to require large grocery stores to pay workers $4/hour hazard pay during the pandemic.
If you believe you are entitled to hazardous duty pay but have not received it, contact MSE at info@mselaborlaw.com. MSE currently represents federal workers who have continued to work in-person during the COVID-19 pandemic and who may be entitled to specialty pay, including hazardous duty pay. For more information, visit https://www.mselaborlaw.com/resources/coronavirus-information-federal.
