We want to let you know about how San Francisco has enacted an ordinance that will require employers with 100 or more employees to provide supplemental pay for military leave.
The details
Effective Feb. 19, 2023, private employers with 100 or more employees worldwide must pay employees who are called for military duty the difference between their gross military pay and their gross pay as employees.
Under the ordinance, military duty is defined as active military service in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, international terrorism, the conflict in Iraq, or related extraordinary circumstances, or military service to provide medical or logistical support to federal, state, or local government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, natural disasters, or engagement in military duty ordered for the purposes of military training, drills, encampment, naval cruises, special exercises, Emergency State Active Duty, or like activity.
Eligibility
To be eligible for the supplemental paid leave, an employee must work within the geographic boundaries of San Francisco and be a member of the reserve corps of the United States Armed Forces, National Guard, or other uniformed service organization of the United States.
Employees who fail to return to work
If the employee fails to return to their job within 60 days of release from military duty, the employer has the option of treating the supplemental paid military leave they provided as a loan payable with interest at a rate equal to the minimum amount necessary to avoid imputed income under the Internal Revenue Service Code. In such a case, interest begins to accrue 90 days after the employee’s release from military duty or return to fitness for employment, whichever is later. The loan is payable in equal monthly installments over a period not to exceed five years.
Next steps
If you are a San Francisco employer with 100 or more employees, review policies and practices, ensuring compliance with the ordinance.