Volume 32 I Monday, September 14, 2020

California Senate Passes COVID Comp Bill

The California Senate has passed legislation to require critical workers who contract COVID-19 to exhaust pandemic-specific paid sick leave benefits or compensated leaves of absence before receiving temporary disability benefits. S.B. 1159, introduced by Democratic Sen. Jerry Hill, passed Friday in a 28-11 vote. The legislation would provide full hospital, surgical, medical, disability and indemnity benefits to essential workers who are presumed to have contracted COVID-19 on the job. To qualify, a worker must have been positively diagnosed with COVID-19 and worked at their employer’s workplace or at the direction of the employer outside of their residences within 14 days of their diagnosis. However, employees are required to exhaust sick leave benefits specifically available for the pandemic or paid leave of absence benefits — such as those offered to first responders — before receiving temporary disability. The bill also states that if liability for a COVID-19-related claim is not rejected within 30 days of the filing, it will be presumed to be compensable. Source: BusinessInsider.com

Gov. Newsom Signs Bill Immediately Ensuring Access to Paid Sick Leave for Every California Employee

California Gov. Gavin Newsom this week signed AB 1867, legislation that immediately extends critical paid sick days protections to California’s workforce. Building on historic early action to expand paid sick days to employees in the food sector at the beginning of this crisis, this legislation means that every California employee that has been exposed to or tests positive for COVID-19 will have access to paid sick days for the rest of the 2020 calendar year.   AB 1867, a budget trailer bill, closes the gaps in paid sick days provided in federal law and the Governor’s Executive Order by including employers with over 500 employees and public and private employers of first responders and health care employees who opted not to cover their employees under federal law. The bill also allows California’s Labor Commissioner to cite workplaces for a lack of paid sick days, a critical enforcement tool that will promote safety for employees and customers alike.   Bill Fills Gaps “Helping employees stay home when they are sick is foundational in our response to COVID-19,” said Governor Newsom. “This bill fills in gaps in our federal and state paid sick days policy and gives our extraordinary employees a little more peace of mind as they take time to care for themselves and protect those around them from COVID-19. I look forward to continuing to work with the Legislature and other partners to make more progress in this space.”   Expanding access to paid sick days and protecting employees has been a priority of the Newsom Administration before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Newsom has taken several actions to benefit employees on the front lines, including paid sick days for food sector employees; workers’ compensation benefits for employees who contract COVID-19 during the stay-at-home-order; critical child support services for essential employees and vulnerable populations; additional weekly unemployment benefits; and support for employees to isolate and quarantine outside their home.

What Printing Company Employers, Workers Need to Know About New Federal Payroll Tax Deferral Option

Adriane Harrison, VP of Human Relations Consulting at PRINTING United Alliance, discusses the widespread confusion surrounding the new federal payroll tax deferral option, which went into effect Sept. 1, and what printers and their employees need to know about it.

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Sales Advice During COVID-19: What to Change About Selling 1) Accept that this will be slow and hard. No matter what you do, everyone’s distracted. Now more than ever, your company’s marketing and sales messages are low in the list of your prospects’ priorities. Your efforts may fail… but if you take no action, failure is guaranteed. 2) Recognize that your client is the Hero, and you’re the Helper. We’re all the hero of our own lives… but right now more than ever, your job is to make your clients the Hero. Make sure you are there to help your clients reach their goals… and this helps you reach your goals.

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Are You One of COVID's Victims?   Your test was negative, but your sales have been cut in half—if that describes your situation, your condition is probably terminal unless you take prompt action. Hoping for a quick turnaround is equivalent to sticking your head in the sand. So, what’s the best course of action?   You must accept that COVID is burning up your cash because your sales are no longer sufficient to cover your overhead. If sales don’t bounce back soon, your only chance is to sharply cut your overhead. That isn’t easy as you can’t change the cost of your building, tell the equipment lessor to reduce the payments nor make much of a dent in the other front office costs.   Amazingly, while overhead is hard to cut, it can be made to disappear! You can make that happen by consolidating with another similar business and doing all your work in their plant. This is almost always possible because most firms in our industry operate only a single shift with perhaps a partial second, giving them the ability to more than double sales without any increase in overhead.   Making this happen requires reaching out to firms in your area with similar equipment and market focuses and talking about a win-win solution. Bob Lindgren, a principal of The Management Guys, can work with you to get this done. Call him today at 818-219-3855 (email: bob.lindgren815@gmail.com).

Check out this video presentation for more on this subject! Video

In these unprecedented and uncertain times, PIA San Diego is committed to providing the printing and graphic arts community with the most up-to-date resources on the ongoing COVID-19 situation. Visit our website

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