Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva is pushing to have deputies who were placed under quarantine due to the coronavirus in March to be paid sick leave, officials said Thursday. 

Federal guidelines state that starting on April 1, employees should receive 80 hours of paid sick leave if quarantined due to the coronavirus, according to County officials. 

“The sheriff should know, since the guidelines were sent out last week, that new federal benefits for employees affected by COVID-19 took effect beginning (April 1),” said Sachi Hamai, the Los Angeles County CEO. “The guidelines for these programs are set by the federal government, not by the County.” 

However, Villanueva said that these guidelines do not seem to support deputies who were quarantined in March.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which provides employees with paid sick leave and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19, is effective April 1 to the end of 2020.

“Those who don’t have sick time or vacation time are just not going to be paid. It’s a big problem with me,” Villanueva said. “We have an obligation. We’re putting them in jeopardy by putting them into situations the average citizen is not going to do, and why on earth would we jeopardize their pay because of a quarantine issue?” 

Although the sheriff’s wishes are to have the County extend the paid sick leave to include deputies quarantined last month, County officials stated they are not able to do so due to the decision made by the federal government. 

“The guidelines for these programs are set by the federal government, not by the County. The sheriff is responsible for his own decisions if he ordered employees to be placed on home leave,” Hamai said. 

Hamai continued that, as a department head, the sheriff should be aware that employees he ordered to stay at home should have been placed on paid administrative leave.

“The Chief Executive Office has been working every step of the way with the County’s labor partners to ensure that all employees are paid appropriately during the coronavirus pandemic,” Hamai said. 

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