DOMESTIC WORKERS’ EQUAL ACCESS TO PAID SICK LEAVE

SF-LABOR pt. DIVISION I: PROTECTION OF WORKERS IN THE CITY, art. 12

in effect

SF Labor and Employment Code § 12.1 TITLE.

SEC. 12.1. TITLE. This Article 12 shall be known as the Domestic Workers’ Equal Access to Paid Sick Leave Ordinance. (Added as Police Code Sec. 3300N.1 by Ord. 4-22, File No. 211132, App. 1/13/2022, Eff. 2/13/2022; redesignated by Ord. 221-23, File No. 230835, App. 11/3/2023, Eff. 12/4/2023, Oper. 1/4/2024)

SF Labor and Employment Code § 12.2 FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

SEC. 12.2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. (a) More than two million domestic workers in the United States, and approximately 10,000 in San Francisco, work in the homes of their employers, cooking; cleaning; caring for children, older adults, people with disabilities, and others; and performing other labor. (b) Domestic workers generally are paid low wages, are unlikely to receive health benefits or paid time off from employers, and are at high risk of wage theft and other violations of worker protections. This vulnerability is long-standing and has deep historic, economic, and social roots in racism and sexism. Domestic workers remain uniquely vulnerable, in part because they generally work in isolation, behind the closed doors of private homes. (c) In 2006, the people of the City and County of San Francisco (“City”) enacted the nation’s first Paid Sick Leave Ordinance (PSLO), covering employees working in the City. Paid sick leave (PSL) is an important public health tool for infectious disease control, as workers without it are more likely to place others at risk by going to work sick or sending their children to school or daycare while ill. (d) Despite the PSLO, few domestic workers in the City have access to PSL. Only 17% of domestic workers in San Francisco surveyed by researchers from the Graduate Center at the City University of New York reported that they receive any paid time off as an employment benefit. Only 33% of those domestic workers reported that they had had even one paid day off during the previous year, whether for sick leave, vacation, or a paid holiday. See Isaac Jabola-Carolus, “Profile of San Francisco Domestic Workers,” December 2020, on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors in File No. _____. (e) The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgency of ensuring that all workers have access to PSL for illness, caregiving responsibilities, and other purposes. This is particularly true for low-wage workers, like domestic workers, who may be unlikely to have adequate resources to take unpaid time off when ill or when caring for an ill family member. The COVID-19 pandemic has further increased both the economic vulnerabilities of domestic workers. Domestic workers have suffered disproportionate job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic and public health response, peaking as high as 60% in May 2020. See the foregoing “Profile of San Francisco Domestic Workers.” But domestic workers are less likely than other workers to have access to unemployment insurance due to misclassification, informal employment arrangements, and immigration status. (f) Domestic workers are at heightened risk of contracting COVID-19 and other infectious diseases because they typically work indoors, often in close proximity to their employers and those for whom they provide care. Domestic workers frequently work for multiple different individuals or families, increasing their exposure risk. Domestic workers generally are not protected by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act or its California counterpart, and they are unlikely to be provided with personal protective equipment or other COVID-19 safety measures. (g) Employers of domestic workers that wish to provide the workers with PSL often lack access to systems to facilitate accrual and tracking of benefits. For domestic workers who work for multiple employers for varying lengths of time, PSL that does not allow for aggregation across employers may not provide workers meaningful access to PSL. Misclassification of employees as independent contractors and informal employment arrangements further reduce domestic workers’ access to PSL. (h) This Article 12 establishes a portable PSL system, which will allow Domestic Workers to earn and consolidate PSL benefits from several employers and to keep and access that paid leave as they move between jobs. The system would allow Hiring Entities to track PSL accruals, which would be transferred from the Hiring Entity to the Domestic Worker when the Domestic Worker needs to take PSL. PSL would not necessarily be used with the same Hiring Entity or Hiring Entities from which the funds are drawn. (i) The purpose of this Article 12 is to provide Domestic Workers in the City access to the essential benefit of PSL, administered through the portable PSL system. By expanding access to PSL, this Article is intended to mitigate the economic harm Domestic Workers are suffering due to the pandemic, support the City’s pandemic response, and improve public health more broadly. (Added as Police Code Sec. 3300N.2 by Ord. 4-22, File No. 211132, App. 1/13/2022, Eff. 2/13/2022; redesignated by Ord. 221-23, File No. 230835, App. 11/3/2023, Eff. 12/4/2023, Oper. 1/4/2024)

SF Labor and Employment Code § 12.3 DEFINITIONS.

SEC. 12.3. DEFINITIONS. For purposes of this Article 12, the following definitions apply. “Agency” means the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement. “City” means the City and County of San Francisco. “Domestic Worker” means an individual who is employed by or contracts with a Hiring Entity to provide labor or services in a residence caring for a child; serving as a companion or providing other non-medical care or services for a sick, convalescing, disabled, or senior person; cleaning, cooking, providing food or butler service, gardening, personal organizing, or performing other in-home personal or domestic service. Domestic Worker includes an individual who as part of the individual’s employment or other work contract resides in the personal residence of the Hiring Entity. Notwithstanding the foregoing definition, Domestic Worker does not include: (a) An individual providing labor or services for a family member, meaning a spouse, child, parent, sibling, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, first cousin, grandparent, grandchild, parent-in-law, child-in-law, stepparent, stepchild, stepsibling, or half-sibling, whether the individual is related by blood, marriage, or adoption; (b) An individual primarily engaged in house sitting, pet sitting, or dog walking; (c) An individual working at a business operated primarily out of the person’s own residence, such as a home day-care business; (d) An individual whose primary work involves household repair or maintenance, such as a roofer, plumber, mason, painter, or other similar contractor; (e) A home health care worker for work that is paid through public funds, such as a home health care worker while paid through Medicaid or Medicare; (f) An individual under 18 years of age; or (g) An individual who does not regularly perform work for the Hiring Entity. An individual who performs an average of five hours or more per month shall be presumed to be a Domestic Worker. “Hiring Entity” means any person, as defined in Section 18 of the California Labor Code, including 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, employs, contracts with, or hires a Domestic Worker. “Implementation Date” means one year after the effective date of the ordinance in Board File No. 211132 establishing this Article 12. “OEWD” means the Office of Economic and Workforce Development. “PSL” means paid sick leave. (Added as Police Code Sec. 3300N.3 by Ord. 4-22, File No. 211132, App. 1/13/2022, Eff. 2/13/2022; redesignated by Ord. 221-23, File No. 230835, App. 11/3/2023, Eff. 12/4/2023, Oper. 1/4/2024)

SF Labor and Employment Code § 12.4 ESTABLISHMENT OF PORTABLE PAID SICK LEAVE SYSTEM.

SEC. 12.4. ESTABLISHMENT OF PORTABLE PAID SICK LEAVE SYSTEM. (a) By the Implementation Date, OEWD shall develop and implement the portable PSL system. (b) Planning phase. (1) OEWD shall seek input and recommendations from Domestic Workers, Hiring Entities, other community partners, and City Departments on the PSL system, including platform for and features of the system and its operational requirements. (2) Not later than six months after the effective date of this Article 12, OEWD shall submit to the Board of Supervisors a plan for developing and administering the PSL system, which shall address system development; organization and management, including whether OEWD intends to select a third-party PLS system administrator; and funding requirements, and which may include legislative recommendations. Subject to the budgetary and civil service provisions of the Charter, OEWD may delegate or assign functions of the development and implementation of the portable PSL system to a third-party administrator. (3) During the remainder of the one-year planning phase, OEWD shall develop the PSL system, in conjunction with a third-party PSL system administrator if applicable. (c) The portable PSL system shall perform the following functions: (1) Tracking each Domestic Worker’s hours worked for a Hiring Entity and net pay rates, and calculating the accrued right to PSL funds from such information; (2) When PSL funds are requested, coordinating the transfer of funds to a Domestic Worker who has accrued the right to PSL contributions from one or more Hiring Entities from which the right to PSL funds have accrued, in the order the right to PSL funds accrued. (d) The portable PSL system shall be designed and administered to minimize administrative burdens for the Hiring Entity and Domestic Worker. (e) The portable PSL system administrator may seek relevant background information from the Domestic Worker and the Hiring Entity for the purpose of coordinating the transfer of funds from a Hiring Entity to a Domestic Worker. All information provided to or retained in the portable PSL system shall be confidential to the extent permitted by law, provided however, that such information may be shared with 1) a financial institution facilitating payments by the PSL system to the extent legally required and 2) the Agency to the extent needed to implement, administer, and enforce this Article 12. Such financial institutions and the Agency shall maintain the confidentiality of such information to the extent permitted by law. (Added as Police Code Sec. 3300N.4 by Ord. 4-22, File No. 211132, App. 1/13/2022, Eff. 2/13/2022; redesignated by Ord. 221-23, File No. 230835, App. 11/3/2023, Eff. 12/4/2023, Oper. 1/4/2024)

SF Labor and Employment Code § 12.5 DOMESTIC WORKERS’ ACCESS TO PAID SICK LEAVE.

SEC. 12.5. DOMESTIC WORKERS’ ACCESS TO PAID SICK LEAVE. (a) Except as provided in subsection (e) or in any exception created by rule under Section 12.8, and without regard to the employment classification of the Domestic Worker, a Hiring Entity shall provide PSL funds to a Domestic Worker. The right to PSL funds shall be accounted for in the portable PSL system established under Section 12.4, and the PSL system shall coordinate the transfer of funds from a Hiring Entity to a Domestic Worker when a Domestic Worker requests accrued PSL funds. (b) A Domestic Worker shall accrue a right to PSL funds under subsection (a) equal to not less than one hour of net pay, at the Domestic Worker’s regular rate of pay, for every 30 hours of work for the Hiring Entity performed on or after the Implementation Date. The Hiring Entity shall report the number of hours of work and net pay rate of a Domestic Worker to the PSL system. The Domestic Worker shall report the number of hours of work, net pay rate, and relevant contact information of the Hiring Entity. The information provided by the Hiring Entity and Domestic Worker to the portable PSL system administrator shall be retained, used to calculate a Domestic Worker’s right to PSL funds from a Hiring Entity, and used to coordinate the transfer of such PSL funds from the Hiring Entity to the Domestic Worker. (c) The right to PSL funds shall accrue in hour-unit increments, but the funds shall not be transferred from the Hiring Entity to the Domestic Worker until the Domestic Worker requests the PSL funds. A Hiring Entity is responsible for fulfilling any tax withholding and tax reporting obligations for such contributions at the time PSL funds are transferred. (d) A Hiring Entity may cap accrual of the right to PSL contributions for a Domestic Worker at 40 hours of PSL, provided however that a Hiring Entity that is an Employer under Labor and Employment Code Section 11.2(d) and not a “Small business” under Labor and Employment Code Section 11.2(f) may cap accrual of the right to PSL contributions for a Domestic Worker at 72 hours of PSL. The right to PSL contributions carries over from year to year (whether calendar year or fiscal year). (e) A Domestic Worker may use the portable PSL system established under Section 12.4 to request accrued PSL funds for use for any purpose for which paid sick leave may be used under Labor and Employment Code Section 11.4. (f) If a Hiring Entity directly provides a Domestic Worker PSL, including but not limited to PSL under Labor and Employment Code Article 11, the Hiring Entity may offset that paid leave from the PSL funds it must provide a Domestic Worker under subsections (a) and (b). A Hiring Entity that provides at least one hour of PSL for every 30 hours of work shall be exempt from all provisions of this Article 12, except for the requirements of Section 12.8(d). (g) If a Hiring Entity that is an “Employer” under Labor and Employment Code Section 11.2(d) complies with this Article 12, the Employer shall be deemed to comply with Labor and Employment Code Article 11. (Added as Police Code Sec. 3300N.5 by Ord. 4-22, File No. 211132, App. 1/13/2022, Eff. 2/13/2022; redesignated by Ord. 221-23, File No. 230835, App. 11/3/2023, Eff. 12/4/2023, Oper. 1/4/2024)

SF Labor and Employment Code § 12.6 NOTICE TO DOMESTIC WORKERS.

SEC. 12.6. NOTICE TO DOMESTIC WORKERS. (a) The Agency shall, within 90 days of the effective date of the ordinance in Board File No. 211132 establishing this Article 12, publish and make available on its website and through electronic communication an initial notice of the Domestic Workers’ Equal Access to Paid Sick Leave Ordinance. (b) The Agency shall conduct outreach and education about this Article 12 in the community to inform Domestic Workers and Hiring Entities. (c) OEWD, in collaboration with the Agency, shall, not later than 21 days prior to the Implementation Date, publish and make available on its website notice regarding the portable PSL system and how to access it. The Agency shall promptly publish and make available on its website and through electronic communication the same notice. (d) The Agency shall, not later than 21 days prior to the Implementation Date of this Article 12, publish and make available on its website and through electronic communication a notice suitable for Hiring Entities to inform Domestic Workers of their rights under this Article 12, in English, Spanish, Chinese, Filipino, and any language spoken by at least 5% of City residents. A Hiring Entity shall, within seven days after the Implementation Date, provide the notice to Domestic Workers in a manner calculated to reach each Domestic Worker by printing and providing the notice on paper and/or sending it to the Domestic Worker via electronic mail or text message. Such notice shall be provided in the Domestic Worker’s native language if the notice is available in that language. (Added as Police Code Sec. 3300N.6 by Ord. 4-22, File No. 211132, App. 1/13/2022, Eff. 2/13/2022; redesignated by Ord. 221-23, File No. 230835, App. 11/3/2023, Eff. 12/4/2023, Oper. 1/4/2024)

SF Labor and Employment Code § 12.7 EXERCISE OF RIGHTS PROTECTED; RETALIATION PROHIBITED.

SEC. 12.7. EXERCISE OF RIGHTS PROTECTED; RETALIATION PROHIBITED. (a) It shall be unlawful for a Hiring Entity or any other person to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right protected under this Article 12. (b) It shall be unlawful for a Hiring Entity to take any adverse action against any Domestic Worker in retaliation for exercising rights protected under this Article 12, including the right to file a complaint or inform any person about any Hiring Entity’s alleged violation of this Article; the right to cooperate with the Agency in its investigations of alleged violations of this Article; and the right to inform any person of their possible rights under this Article. (c) Protections of this Article 12 shall apply to any person who mistakenly but in good faith alleges violations of this Article. (d) Taking adverse action against a person within 90 days of the person’s filing a complaint with the Agency or a court alleging a violation of any provision of this Article 12; of informing any person about a Hiring Entity’s alleged violation of this Article; of cooperating with the Agency or other persons in the investigation or prosecution of any alleged violation of this Article; of opposing any policy, practice, or act that is unlawful under this Article; or of informing any person of their rights under this Article, shall raise a rebuttable presumption that such adverse action was taken in retaliation for the exercise of one or more of the aforementioned rights. Unless the Hiring Entity rebuts the presumption with clear and convincing evidence that the adverse action was solely for a reason other than retaliation, the Hiring Entity shall be deemed to have violated this Section 12.7. (Added as Police Code Sec. 3300N.7 by Ord. 4-22, File No. 211132, App. 1/13/2022, Eff. 2/13/2022; redesignated by Ord. 221-23, File No. 230835, App. 11/3/2023, Eff. 12/4/2023, Oper. 1/4/2024)

SF Labor and Employment Code § 12.8 IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT.

SEC. 12.8. IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT. (a) OEWD is authorized to implement Section 12.4 and, in consultation with the Agency and after seeking input and recommendations from Domestic Workers, Hiring Entities, and other community partners, may promulgate guidelines or rules for such purposes. Such guidelines or rules shall address the establishment and implementation of the portable PSL system, including platform design, onboarding, and usability for Domestic Workers and Hiring Entities; transfer of funds from Hiring Entities to Domestic Workers; and administration and cost management of the PSL system. (b) The Agency is authorized to implement and enforce the remaining provisions of this Article 12 and may promulgate guidelines or rules for such purposes. Such guidelines or rules may address, among other things, outreach to Hiring Entities and Domestic Workers and enforcement of this Article. (c) A Domestic Worker or any other person who has reason to believe that a violation of this Article 12 has occurred may report the suspected violation to the Agency. The Agency shall encourage reporting pursuant to this subsection (c) by keeping confidential, to the maximum extent permitted by law, the name and other identifying information of the person reporting the violation; provided, however, that with the authorization of said person, the Agency may disclose their name and identifying information as necessary to enforce this Article or for other appropriate purposes. (d) Hiring Entities shall retain records pertaining to their compliance with this Article 12 for a period of four years and shall allow the Agency access to such records upon reasonable notice. Failure to maintain records or to allow the Agency reasonable access to such records shall result in a presumption that the Hiring Entity has violated this Article, absent clear and convincing evidence otherwise. (e) The Agency may investigate possible violations of this Article 12. Where the Agency has reason to believe that a violation has occurred, it may order any appropriate temporary or interim relief to mitigate the violation or maintain the status quo pending completion of a full investigation dor1 hearing. (f) Where the Agency determines that a violation has occurred following an investigation that affords due process, including notice of the alleged violation and the right to respond, the Agency may issue a determination of violation and order any appropriate relief, including but not limited to the reinstatement of a Domestic Worker, back pay, and pursuant to California Constitution Article XIIIC, Section 1(e)(5), the payment of an additional sum as an administrative penalty to each employee or person whose rights under this Article 12 were violated. If any PSL contributions were unlawfully withheld, the dollar amount of such contributions multiplied by three, or $250, whichever amount is greater, shall be included in the administrative penalty paid to a Domestic Worker. Further, the Agency may order the payment of an additional sum as an administrative penalty of $1,000 for the Hiring Entity’s first violation, $5,000 for the second violation, and $10,000 for the third and subsequent violations. For the purpose of this calculation, if multiple Domestic Workers are impacted by the same violation at the same time, the Agency shall treat the violation as a single violation rather than multiple violations. To compensate the City for the reasonable regulatory costs of investigating and remedying the violation, pursuant to California Constitution Article XIIIC, Section 1(e)(3), the Agency may also order the violating Hiring Entity to pay to the City an amount that does not exceed the Agency’s investigation and administrative enforcement costs. (g) The Agency may not issue a determination of violation under this Article 12 for the same conduct by the same Hiring Entity subject to a determination of violation under Labor and Employment Code Article 11. (h) The determination of violation shall provide notice to the Hiring Entity of the right to appeal the determination to the Controller and that failure to do so within 15 days shall result in the determination becoming a final administrative decision enforceable as a judgment by the Superior Court. When prompt compliance with a final administrative decision is not forthcoming, the Agency may take any appropriate enforcement action to secure compliance, including requesting the City Attorney seek enforcement of the decision in Superior Court and, except where prohibited by State or Federal law, requesting that City agencies or departments revoke or suspend any registration certificates, permits, or licenses held or requested by the Hiring Entity or person until such time as the violation is remedied. (i) The determination of violation shall specify a reasonable time period for payment of any relief ordered. The Agency may award interest on all amounts due and unpaid at the expiration of such time period at the rate of interest specified in subdivision (b) of Section 3289 of the California Civil Code, as may be amended from time to time. (j) The remedies and penalties provided under this Article 12 are cumulative. (k) The Agency may require that remedies and penalties due and owing to Domestic Workers be paid directly to the City for disbursement to the Domestic Workers. The Controller shall hold these funds in escrow for the Domestic Workers. The Agency shall make best efforts to distribute such funds to Domestic Workers. In the event such funds are unclaimed for a period of three years, the Controller may undertake administrative procedures for escheat of unclaimed funds under California Government Code Sections 50050 et seq., as may be amended from time to time. Subject to the budgetary and fiscal provisions of the Charter, such escheated funds shall be dedicated to the enforcement of this Article 12 or other laws the Agency enforces. (Added as Police Code Sec. 3300N.8 by Ord. 4-22, File No. 211132, App. 1/13/2022, Eff. 2/13/2022; redesignated by Ord. 221-23, File No. 230835, App. 11/3/2023, Eff. 12/4/2023, Oper. 1/4/2024) CODIFICATION NOTE 1. So in Ord. 4-22.

SF Labor and Employment Code § 12.9 APPEAL PROCEDURE.

SEC. 12.9. APPEAL PROCEDURE. (a) A Hiring Entity may file an appeal from a determination of violation (“Appeal”) in accordance with the following procedures: (1) The Hiring Entity shall file the Appeal with the Controller and serve a copy on the Agency. The Appeal shall be filed in writing within 15 days of the date of service of the determination of violation, and shall specify the basis for the Appeal and shall request that the Controller appoint a hearing officer to hear and decide the Appeal. Failure to submit a timely, written Appeal shall constitute concession to the violation, and the determination of violation shall be deemed the final administrative decision upon expiration of the 15-day period. Further, failure to submit a timely, written Appeal shall constitute a failure to exhaust administrative remedies, which shall serve as a complete defense to any petition or claim brought against the City regarding the determination of violation. (2) Following the filing of the Appeal and service of a copy on the Agency, the Agency shall promptly afford the Hiring Entity an opportunity to meet and confer in good faith regarding possible resolution of the determination of violation. (3) Within 30 days of receiving an Appeal, the Controller shall appoint an impartial hearing officer who is not part of the Agency and immediately notify the Agency and Hiring Entity of the appointment. (4) The hearing officer shall promptly set a date for a hearing. The hearing shall commence within 45 days of the date of the Controller’s notice of appointment of the hearing officer and conclude within 75 days of such notice, provided, however, that the hearing officer may extend these time limits for good cause. (5) The hearing officer shall conduct a fair and impartial evidentiary hearing. The Hiring Entity shall have the burden of proving by a preponderance of the evidence that the Agency erred in its determination of violation, and/or the relief ordered therein. (6) Within 30 days of the conclusion of the hearing, the hearing officer shall issue a written decision affirming, modifying, or dismissing the determination of violation. The hearing officer’s decision shall be the final administrative decision. The decision shall consist of findings, a determination, any relief ordered, a reasonable time period for payment of any relief ordered, and notice to the Hiring Entity of the right to appeal by filing a petition for a writ of mandate as described in subsection (a)(7), and that failure to file a timely appeal shall result in the final administrative decision becoming enforceable as a judgment by the Superior Court. (7) The Hiring Entity may appeal the final administrative decision only by filing in San Francisco Superior Court a petition for a writ of mandate under California Code of Civil Procedure, Section 1094.5 et seq., as applicable, and as may be amended from time to time. (b) The final administrative decision is enforceable as a judgment in Superior Court. Where a Hiring Entity fails to comply with a final administrative decision within the time period required therein, the Agency may take any appropriate enforcement action to secure compliance, including referring the action to the City Attorney to enforce the final administrative decision as a judgment and, except where prohibited by State or Federal law, requesting that City agencies or departments revoke or suspend any registration certificates, permits, or licenses held or requested by the Hiring Entity until such time as the violation is remedied. (Added as Police Code Sec. 3300N.9 by Ord. 4-22, File No. 211132, App. 1/13/2022, Eff. 2/13/2022; redesignated by Ord. 221-23, File No. 230835, App. 11/3/2023, Eff. 12/4/2023, Oper. 1/4/2024)

SF Labor and Employment Code § 12.10 PREEMPTION.

SEC. 12.10. PREEMPTION. Nothing in this Article 12 shall be interpreted or applied so as to create any right, requirement, power, or duty in conflict with Federal or State law. The term “conflict,” as used in this Section 12.10 means a conflict that is preemptive under Federal or State law. (Added as Police Code Sec. 3300N.10 by Ord. 4-22, File No. 211132, App. 1/13/2022, Eff. 2/13/2022; redesignated by Ord. 221-23, File No. 230835, App. 11/3/2023, Eff. 12/4/2023, Oper. 1/4/2024)

SF Labor and Employment Code § 12.11 UNDERTAKING FOR THE GENERAL WELFARE.

SEC. 12.11. UNDERTAKING FOR THE GENERAL WELFARE. In undertaking the adoption and enforcement of this Article 12, the City is undertaking only to promote the general welfare. The City is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach proximately caused injury. This Article does not create a legally enforceable right by any member of the public against the City. (Added as Police Code Sec. 3300N.11 by Ord. 4-22, File No. 211132, App. 1/13/2022, Eff. 2/13/2022; redesignated by Ord. 221-23, File No. 230835, App. 11/3/2023, Eff. 12/4/2023, Oper. 1/4/2024)

SF Labor and Employment Code § 12.12 SEVERABILITY.

SEC. 12.12. SEVERABILITY. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this Article 12, or any application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions or applications of this Article. The Board of Supervisors hereby declares that it would have passed this Article and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase, and word not declared invalid and unconstitutional without regard to whether any other portion of this Article or application thereof would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional. (Added as Police Code Sec. 3300N.12 by Ord. 4-22, File No. 211132, App. 1/13/2022, Eff. 2/13/2022; redesignated by Ord. 221-23, File No. 230835, App. 11/3/2023, Eff. 12/4/2023, Oper. 1/4/2024)

Source: City and County of San Francisco, Charter and Municipal Codes (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/san_francisco/latest/sf_laboremployment/0-0-0-339Fetched: 11/1/2026