As of Friday, July 1, non-hotel employers with full-time employees in West Hollywood must provide up to 96 hours of compensated time off (“CTO”) each year.  (Part-time West Hollywood employees must receive a prorated number of CTO hours based on their hours worked.)  These requirements already went into effect for hotel employers on January 1, 2022.

The CTO may be used for vacation, sick leave, and/or “personal necessity” (which is not defined).  At least 50 percent of the hours must be for vacation or personal necessity leave.

Employers have some flexibility in how to implement this new policy.  The 96 hours can be provided to employees as a lump sum up-front each year, or employees may accrue them throughout the year.  If employers opt for the accrual model, employees will begin to accrue the CTO starting their first day of employment, but employers may limit employees from using the CTO to up to their sixth month of employment (except for using the CTO for sick leave, which must become available to employees no later than their 90th day of employment).

Employers may choose to “cap” employees’ accrued but unused CTO at 192 hours or more.  Once an employee reaches this cap, they will stop accruing additional CTO until they use some of their accrued CTO.

In line with existing California law on paid time off, vacation and personal necessity CTO under this ordinance is considered wages, and an employee’s unused accrued vacation and/or personal necessity CTO, if any, must be paid out to the employee upon separation.

A new Uncompensated Leave policy also took effect in West Hollywood on July 1, 2022.  Employers now must provide at least 80 hours of Uncompensated Leave to full-time employees (and a prorated number of hours to part-time employees) that can be used for the employee’s own sick leave or to care for a sick immediate family member when that employee has exhausted their available CTO.  Like CTO, an employer may front-load Uncompensated Leave or have employees accrue it, so long as employees may use this leave no later than their sixth month of employment.  Employers may “cap” Uncompensated Leave at 80 hours each year.

Employers who can show that these new leave policies would cause hardship may apply for a waiver of up to one year, depending on the level of hardship caused.

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Photo of Mark Theodore Mark Theodore

Mark Theodore is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department. He has devoted his practice almost exclusively to representing management in all aspects of traditional labor law matters throughout the U.S. He is Co-Chair of Proskauer’s Labor-Management and Collective Bargaining Practice…

Mark Theodore is a partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department. He has devoted his practice almost exclusively to representing management in all aspects of traditional labor law matters throughout the U.S. He is Co-Chair of Proskauer’s Labor-Management and Collective Bargaining Practice Group.

Some recent highlights of his career include:

  • Successfully defended client against allegations that it had terminated a union supporter and isolated another. T-Mobile USA, Inc., 365 NLRB No. 15 (2017).
  • Successfully appealed NLRB findings that certain of client’s written policies violated the National Labor Relations Actions Act.  T-Mobile USA, Inc., 363 NLRB No. 171 (2016), enf’d in part, rev’d in part 865 F.3d 265 (5th Cir. 2017).
  • Represented major utility in NLRB proceedings related to organizing of planners.  Secured utility-wide bargaining unit. Bargained on behalf of grocery chain.  After negotiations reached an impasse, guided the company through lawful implementation of five year collective bargaining agreement.
  • Coordinated employer response in numerous strike situations including a work stoppage across 14 western states of the client’s operations.

Mark has extensive experience representing employers in all matters before the NLRB, including representation petitions, jurisdictional disputes and the handling of unfair labor practice charges from the date they are filed through trial and appeal. Mark has acted as lead negotiator for dozens of major companies in a variety of industries, including national, multi-unit, multi-location, multi-employer and multi-union bargaining. Mark has handled lockout and strike situations, coordinating the clients efforts.

In addition, Mark has handled hundreds of arbitrations involving virtually every area of dispute, including contract interest arbitration, contract interpretation, just cause termination/discipline, benefits, pay rates, and hours of work.

Read more about Mark Theodore
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Photo of Dixie Morrison Dixie Morrison

Dixie Morrison is an associate in the Labor & Employment Department and a member of the Employment Litigation & Arbitration Group. She is a member of the Discrimination, Harassment, & Title VII and the Labor-Management Relations practice groups.

Dixie assists clients across a…

Dixie Morrison is an associate in the Labor & Employment Department and a member of the Employment Litigation & Arbitration Group. She is a member of the Discrimination, Harassment, & Title VII and the Labor-Management Relations practice groups.

Dixie assists clients across a variety of industries in litigation and arbitration relating to wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wage and hour, trade secrets, breach of contract, and whistleblower matters in both the single-plaintiff and class and collective action contexts. She also maintains an active traditional labor and collective bargaining practice and regularly counsels employers on a diverse range of workplace issues.

Dixie earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she was the Executive Editor of Submissions for the Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law. Dixie received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Pomona College. Prior to law school, she served as a labor and economic policy aide in the United States Senate.

Read more about Dixie Morrison
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