Local employment ordinances are not unusual in California and exist from San Diego to San Jose. However, San Francisco is unusual in that it has far more comprehensive employment law ordinances than other localities.

Here are some highlights of San Francisco’s employment requirements for employers.

Minimum Wage

Effective July 1, 2022, the minimum wage for employers within the geographic boundaries of San Francisco, is $16.99, regardless of the size of the business.

San Francisco’s minimum wage will also increase for a small subset of “Government Supported Employees.” These are employees who are either (1) under the age of 18 and employed as an after-school or summer employee in a bona fide training or apprenticeship program in a position that is subsidized by the federal, state, or local government; or (2) over the age 55 and employed by a Nonprofit Corporation that provides social welfare services as a core mission to individuals who are over the age of 55 and are in a position that is subsidized by federal, state, or local government, subject to additional limitations.

Employers are required to post official notice of the minimum wage in a place where employees can read easily.

Paid Sick Leave

San Francisco’s Paid Sick Leave Ordinance (PSLO) requires employers to provide paid sick leave to employees, including temporary and part-time employees.

As with California’s paid sick leave, employees must earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. However, unlike state paid sick leave, San Francisco has different caps on paid sick leave based on the number of employees. For employers with 10 or more employees, employees’ accrual of paid sick leave may be capped at 72 hours. These employers must allow employees to accrue at least up to 72 hours of sick leave. Employers with fewer than 10 employees may cap an employee’s sick time balance at 40 hours. However, these employers may allow employees to accrue up to at least 48 hours of paid sick leave or provide an “advance” of 24 hours or three days of paid sick leave to comply with the state law “up-front option,” and later allow employees to accrue up to 40 hours to comply with San Francisco’s ordinance.

Fair Chance Ordinance

Employers with five or more employees are also required to comply with San Francisco’s Fair Chance Ordinance (FCO). Similar to the state Fair Chance Act, the FCO prohibits covered employers from asking about arrest and conviction records until after a conditional offer of employment and prohibits covered employers considering certain things including arrests not leading to a conviction.

The FCO also:

• Requires covered employers to give an individual an opportunity to present evidence of mitigating factors before the employer takes adverse action based on conviction history or unresolved arrest.

• Requires that covered employers state in job solicitations that qualified applicants with arrest conviction records will be considered for the position.

Employers must conspicuously post the official FCO Notice in every workplace/job site under the employer’s control.

Family-Friendly Workplace Ordinance

Employers with 20 or more employees are required to comply with the Family-Friendly Workplace Ordinance (FFWO).

The ordinance was amended in March 2022, to expand requirements under the ordinance.

The FFWO provides San Francisco employees who have been employed for at least six months by their current employer and work at least eight hours per week on a regular basis with the right to request flexible or predictable work arrangements to assist with caregiving responsibilities.

Covered employees may request flexible arrangements to care for (1) a child or children under the age of eighteen; (2) a person or persons with a serious health condition in a family relationship with the employee; or (3) any family member (age 65 or older) of the employee.

Within 21 days of an employee’s request for a flexible or predictable working arrangement described above, an employer must meet with the employee regarding the request. The employer must respond to an employee’s request within 21 days of that meeting. An employer who denies a request must explain the denial in a written response that sets out a bona fide business reason for the denial and provides the employee with notice of the right to request reconsideration.

Paid Parental Leave Ordinance

Employers with 20 or more employees worldwide are covered by the Paid Parental Leave Ordinance (PPLO), which entitles certain employees to up to eight weeks of supplemental compensation if the employee is eligible to receive paid family leave compensation under the California Paid Family Leave law for purposes of bonding with a new child.

During the leave period, covered employers are required to provide supplemental compensation in an amount such that the California Paid Family Leave wage replacement plus the supplemental compensation equals 100% of the employee’s gross weekly wage, subject to a cap.

Employees must first apply for California Paid Family Leave before seeking PPLO benefits.