Special Notice / Hearing: None__
Vote Required: Majority
To: Honorable Board of Supervisors
From: Supervisor David Canepa. District 5
Supervisor Don Horsley, District 3
Subject: Ordinance Requiring Hazard Pay for Certain Grocery and Drugstore Employees
RECOMMENDATION:
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Introduce and waive reading in its entirety an uncodified ordinance of San Mateo County requiring certain grocery and drugstores located in unincorporated San Mateo County to pay employees an additional five dollars ($5.00) per hour in hazard pay for 120 days.
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BACKGROUND:
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, grocery and drugstore workers in the County of San Mateo have continued to report to work and serve their communities, despite the ongoing hazards and danger of being exposed to and infected by COVID-19, helping to ensure individuals throughout the County of San Mateo have had uninterrupted access to the food they need during this pandemic. Unlike workers in many other sectors, essential grocery and drugstore workers cannot work from home; they must perform their jobs in an environment which involves heightened risk of infection and transmission of COVID-19 through substantial interaction with customers indoors, where there is less air circulation. A recent study published in Occupational & Environmental Medicine found that, within grocery stores, employees with direct customer exposure were five times more likely to test positive for COVID-19, even after adjusting for age, gender, COVID-19 community prevalence where workers live, and other factors.
According to the California Employment Development Department, in the first quarter of 2020, the median hourly wage for a cashier in the San Francisco-Redwood City-South San Francisco region was $17.18. As noted, grocery and drugstore workers cannot work from home and, consequently, they must pay for increased childcare costs as a result of school closures, as well as other necessary expenses relat...
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