Ord 2021-008 Urgency Ord Update - Laserfiche WebLink

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participate in essential activities or to provide essential business services, and banning all gatherings for social, spiritual, and recreational purposes. In addition to healthcare, public health and emergency services, the "Safer at Home" Order identified grocery stores as essential businesses critical to protecting the health and well-being of all Californians and designated their workers as essential critical infrastructure workers; and WHEREAS, the "Safer at Home" and "Stay Home - Stay Healthy" restriction remained in effect, in some form, throughout 2020 and the first few months of 2021; and WHEREAS, grocery workers working for grocery stores are essential workers who perform services that are fundamental to the economy and health of the community during the COVID-19 crisis. They work in high risk conditions with inconsistent access to personal protective equipment and other safety measures; work in public situations with limited ability to engage in physical distancing; and continually expose themselves and the public to the spread of disease; and WHEREAS, premium pay, paid in addition to regular wages, is an established type of compensation for employees performing hazardous duty or work involving physical hardship that can cause extreme physical discomfort and distress; and WHEREAS, grocery workers working during the COVID-19 emergency merit additional compensation because they are performing hazardous duty due to the significant risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus. Grocery workers have been working under these hazardous conditions for months. They are working in these hazardous conditions now and will continue to face safety risks as the virus presents an ongoing threat for an uncertain period, potentially resulting in subsequent waves of infection; and WHEREAS, the availability of grocery stores is fundamental to the health of the community and is made possible during the COVID-19 emergency because grocery workers are on the frontlines of the pandemic supporting public health, safety, and welfare by working in hazardous conditions; and WHEREAS, on February 16, 2021, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2021-001, which was an urgency ordinance establishing an immediate requirement for grocery stores to provide premium pay, also known as "hazard pay", to grocery workers, to compensate for the substantial risks, efforts, and expenses they are undertaking to provide essential services in a safe and reliable manner during the COVID-19 emergency; and WHEREAS, on March 1, 2021, the City Council adopted Ordinance No. 2021-002, which was a regular ordinance establishing a requirement for grocery stores to provide hazard pay to grocery workers; and WHEREAS, the ordinances requires large grocery stores to provide hazard pay until the later of 120 days from the effective date of the ordinances, the date the City reaches the Minimal (yellow) tier under the State's Blueprint for a Safer Economy, or such time as all Covered Employees, as defined in the ordinances, are vaccinated, excluding those Covered Employees who are prevented from receipt of vaccination by disability or sincerely held religious beliefs; and ORDINANCE NO. 2021-008 2