March/April 2021 Legal Update

Pooja S. Nair, a partner at Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP compiles recent legal news affecting the restaurant, food and beverage and hospitality industries for Modern Restaurant Management (MRM) magazine.LegislationCalifornia Passes COVID-19 Supplemental Sick Leave: On March 19, 2021, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 95 providing a new form of COVID-19 related paid sick leave for many California workers. The law will become effective on March 29, 2021, and applies retroactively to sick leave taken beginning on or after January 1, 2021. All California employers with more than 25 employees and in-home supportive services providers are required to provide the supplemental sick leave benefits to employees. The law will remain in effect through September 30, 2021.

Kombucha Tax Act Introduced: On March 23, 2021, Representative Earl Blumenauer introduced the Kombucha Tax Act, which seeks to amend the IRS code to increase the applicable abv limit for kombucha from 0.5 to 1.25…