Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance

San Francisco, US

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The San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed the Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance on October 8, 2013. The citywide law became operative on January 1, 2014. This ordinance gives certain employees the right to request a flexible work arrangement and gives the employer the right to refuse for legitimate business reasons.

The FFWO requires that employers with 20 or more employees allow any employee who is employed in San Francisco, has been employed for six months or more by the current employer, and works at least eight hours per week on a regular basis to request a flexible or predictable working arrangement to assist with caregiving responsibilities. The employee may request the flexible or predictable working arrangement to assist with care for:

a child or children under the age of eighteen;

a person or persons with a serious health condition in a family relationship with the employee; or

a parent (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.

An amendment to the FFWO was passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors on January 7, 2013 and became operative on February 14, 2014. The amendment clarifies that a covered Employer under the FFWO is an employer with 20 or more employees anywhere.

For more information, see the FFWO Amendment (http://sfgsa.org/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=11284 PDF).

FILE NO.131191 ORDINANCE NO. Supervisor Chiu

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Page 1

Administrative Code - Clarifying Employer Definition for Family Friendly Workplace

Ordinance amending the Administrative Code to clarify the group of employers required to comply with the Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance.

Be it ordained by the People of the City and County of San Francisco: Section 1. The Administrative Code is hereby amended by amending Section 12Z.3, to read as follows:

SEC. 12Z.3. DEFINITIONS.

For purposes of this Chapter, the following definitions apply.

- - - -

"Employee" means any person who is employed within the geographic boundaries of the City by an Employer, including part-time employees. "Employee" includes a participant in a Welfare-to-Work Program when the participant is engaged in work activity that would be considered "employment" under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. § 201 et seq., and any applicable U.S. Department of Labor Guidelines. "Welfare-to-Work Program" shall include any public assistance program administered by the Human Services Agency, including but not limited to CalWORKS, and any successor programs that are substantially similar, that require a public assistance applicant or recipient to work in exchange for their grant.

"Employer" means the City, or any person as defined in Section 18 of the California Labor Code who regularly employs 20 or more employeesEmployees, regardless of location, including an agent of that Employer and corporate officers or executives who directly or indirectly or through an agent or any other person, including through the services of a temporary services or staffing agency or similar entity, employ or exercise control over the wages, hours, or working conditions of an Employee. The term "Employer" shall also include any successor in interest of an Employer. The term "Employer" shall not include the state or federal government or any local government entity other than the City.

Section 2. Effective Date. This ordinance shall become effective 30 days after enactment. Enactment occurs when the Mayor signs the ordinance, the Mayor returns the ordinance unsigned or does not sign the ordinance within ten days of receiving it, or the Board of Supervisors overrides the Mayor’s veto of the ordinance.

Section 3. Scope of Ordinance. In enacting this ordinance, the Board of Supervisors intends to amend only those words, phrases, paragraphs, subsections, sections, articles, numbers, punctuation marks, charts, diagrams, or any other constituent parts of the Municipal Code that are explicitly shown in this ordinance as additions, deletions, Board amendment additions, and Board amendment deletions in accordance with the “Note” that appears under the official title of the ordinance.

APPROVED AS TO FORM:

DENNIS J. HERRERA, City Attorney

By: CECILIA T. MANGOBA Deputy City Attorney

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