If you are a California employer with 26 or more employees, you’ll want to keep reading. Supplemental Paid Sick Leave (i.e., “COVID sick leave” or “SPSL”) requirements expired on September 30, 2021. This law covered California employers with 26 or more employees, and required employers to provide up to 80 hours of paid leave time for 2021, for COVID-related reasons preventing an employee from working or teleworking, such as illness, exposure, vaccination and side effects, and caring for others with COVID issues.

The federal version known as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which was voluntary for 2021, and provided employers a tax credit opportunity, also expired on September 30, 2021. As of now, neither the state nor federal legislature has announced a new version of these COVID-related paid leaves. That is not to say that these leaves won’t come back in the future, especially given the ongoing issues with COVID variants.

Next Steps for Employers

If you were subject to SPSL, or choosing to voluntarily offer FFCRA leave, be sure to update your leave policies and communicate the changes to employees. Note that the California DIR is clear that if an employee began an SPSL leave on or before September 30, the employee can finish taking the amount of SPSL leave they are entitled to receive, up to 80 hours.

Other Leaves of Absences

Does this mean that if someone tests positive or is exposed to COVID, there is no leave time available? No, not at all. It just means that employees do not have SPSL available for use, and employers can’t take advantage of FFCRA tax credits. Employees may still be entitled to regular paid sick leave, or other leaves of absence, such as leave under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) or federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Even if an employee has no leave time available, an employer may need to provide a reasonable accommodation for a “medical condition” including COVID-19.

Moreover, Cal/OSHA’s emergency temporary standard still requires almost all employers (regardless of size) to pay “exclusion pay,” following a work-related exposure. Specifically, when an employee needs to be excluded from the worksite following a work-related exposure to COVID-19, the employer must maintain their “pay and benefits” during the isolation period. Additionally, if an employee’s COVID transmission is work-related, they may also be entitled to workers’ compensation benefits.

For guidance on what is required when an employee tests positive in your workplace, CEA members may refer to our COVID-19 Exposure Response Tool Kit. And, for more information on protected leaves of absence, CEA members may refer to our Leaves of Absence Tool Kit. 

We are changing our hours. Until we get some back of the house trained, we will be closed on Tuesdays and Wednesday’s. We have been over working our staff and we all need a minute to breathe. Please be patient with all of our staff. They are all super hard workers trying keep you happy.

What is Ten-Digit Dialing?

A ten-digit dialed telephone call requires entering both the three-digit area code and the seven-digit telephone number to complete the call, even if the area code is the same area code as your own. When an area code transitions to ten-digit dialing, you will no longer be able to dial seven digits to make a local call.

Transitioning to ten-digit dialing will not affect your current telephone number. Your phone number, including your area code, will not change. In California and in Illinois area code 708, you may be required to dial the number "1" before the area code and seven-digit phone number for local calls.

Upcoming Transitions to Ten-Digit Dialing: Where and When?

There are 82 area codes in 35 states and one U.S. territory that currently use "988" as their local exchange and allow seven-digit dialing. A local exchange, also known as a central office code, is the first three numbers of a seven-digit telephone number. To prepare for implementation of a quick way to dial the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline – using only "988" to connect callers to the Lifeline – these area codes must transition to ten-digit dialing for all calls, including local calls.

The North American Numbering Plan Administrator has a list of the states and area codes that will be affected. You can check the list to find out if your area code is one that will be transitioning: https://nationalnanpa.com/transition_to_10_digit_dialing_for_988/docs/NPAsRequiredtoTransitionto10DD.pdf

If you have one of these area codes, beginning on October 24, 2021, you must dial ten digits (area code + telephone number) for all local calls. On and after this date, local calls dialed with only seven digits may not connect, and a recording will inform you that your call cannot be completed as dialed. You must hang up and dial again using the area code and the seven-digit number.

Ten-digit dialing for local calls has been enabled in these area codes since April 24, 2021, and you can begin dialing ten digits anytime, though seven-digit local calls will still be completed prior to October 24, 2021.

Unrelated to the upcoming "988" transition, on October 9, 2021, the "202" area code will also be moving to ten-digit dialing. This move will allow for a new area code, "771", to be added to the current "202" area. After this date, calls dialed using only seven digits will not be completed.

What Changes Will Businesses Need to Make?

If your company uses a PBX or VoIP phone system, you may need to update or reprogram it for ten-digit dialing. Because ten-digit dialing became available in April 2021 in the areas where seven-digit dialing will be phased out in October 2021, reprogramming of PBX or VoIP systems can begin at any time. You should plan to complete any needed reprogramming and test your system before October 2021.

Why Is Ten-Digit Dialing Necessary?

There are more phones in America than there are people, and each phone needs its own phone number. Beginning in the early 1990s, to accommodate the growing need for more phone numbers, some areas began to add a second area code for local calls. Dialing both the area code and the seven-digit number was necessary to ensure the call reached the intended recipient. As more area codes begin to run out of new seven-digit numbers to assign, a second local area code may be added, requiring that area to transition to ten-digit dialing.

In 2020, the FCC established "988" as the new, nationwide three-digit phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. The new three-digit dialing code will be available nationwide by July 16, 2022 and will provide an easy to remember and easy to dial three-digit number to reach suicide prevention and mental health counselors, similar to "911" for emergencies and "311" for local government services. To help facilitate the creation of "988", area codes that use "988" as a local exchange, or the first three digits of a seven-digit phone number, will need to use 10-digit dialing.

Date Last Updated/Reviewed: 

Tuesday, August 3, 2021

Heads up, Plumas County! Two Weeks Left to Apply for Federal Assistance!

Homeowners, renters and business owners who sustained uninsured or underinsured damage to their property from the wildfires in Lassen, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Tehama and Trinity counties have two weeks left to apply for disaster assistance.

The deadline to apply for disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) is Oct. 25, 2021.

Assistance from FEMA may include funds for temporary housing while you are unable to live in your home, such as rental assistance or reimbursement for hotel costs; funds to support the repair or replacement of owner-occupied homes that serve as the household’s primary residence, including privately-owned access routes, such as driveways, roads, or bridges; and funds for disaster-caused expenses and serious needs, such as repair or replacement of personal property and vehicles, funds for moving and storage, medical, dental, child care and other miscellaneous items.

Survivors are encouraged to file insurance claims for damage to their homes, personal property, businesses and vehicles before they apply for FEMA assistance. The easiest way to apply is online at DisasterAssistance.gov. Survivors who may need to request an accommodation or have additional questions can call the FEMA Helpline at 800-621-3362 (TTY 800-462-7585) from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. PT, seven days a week. Multilingual operators are available.

For information on the SBA process, visit DisasterLoanAssistance.sba.gov, call the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955, or email disastercustomerservice@sba.gov. Individuals who are deaf or hard‑of‑hearing can call 800-877-8339.

Thanks to the ongoing efforts of the Feather River Tourism Association, in collaboration with the Lake Almanor Chamber of Commerce and the Quincy Chamber of Commerce, video spots are being produced by Spanish Peak Productions and Dynamic Cinema Production to highlight the beauty and attractions Plumas County still has to offer after the Dixie Fire.

The intent of the spots is to encourage and promote tourism to Plumas County in 2022.  As our Board member Alex Westerberg said, "I lived through the fires in Napa and Sonoma County in 2017. I believe it was critical to the recovery of the area that they proactively marketed the health of the county's post fires, which was essential in getting tourists back into wine country."

The spots will be promoted in a few areas including Reno, Chico, Sacramento and the Bay Area, and will be aired throughout the months of November and December.  The total cost of the project is estimated to be around $42,500, with $20,000 already committed from the following organizations:

- Lake Almanor Brokers $3,000
- Berkshire Hathaway Lake Almanor $3,000
- Coldwell Banker Kehr/O'Brien, Coldwell Banker Chandler and Coldwell Banker Pioneer $3,000
- Plumas Association of Realtors $3,000
- Feather River Tourism Association $7,000
- Quincy Chamber of Commerce $1,000

In order to make this happen, we need additional funding.  If you would like to contribute, please send your check, made payable to Quincy Chamber of Commerce, to PO Box 215, Quincy, CA  95971.  Be sure to write on the memo line it is for the tourism video.  Ideally we would like all the funds in before November 1st, but we won't turn away any funds received after that date!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to call us at (530) 394-0541.  

 

- The Alliance for Workforce Development is advertising for the following positions:

    For more information on any of these, contact Val Bourque at (530) 251-7874.

- The Alliance for Workforce Development is also advertising for the following Dixie Fire Recovery Term Positions:

    For more information, contact AFWD at (530) 283-1606 or stop by their office at 7 Quincy Junction Road.

- Gott Powersports is hiring for a Small Engine Mechanic.  For more information or to apply, give them a call at (530) 283-2136.

- Heat Transfer Systems is looking for an HVAC Service Technician.  Give Jason a call at (530) 283-3665.

- DL Stoy Logging has a few positions available.  Give them a call at (530) 283-9098.

- State Farm Insurance seeks a Licensed Office Representative.  For more information, call (530) 283-0565.