COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR ORDINANCE NO. 210729

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Providing certain City employees up to 80 hours paid leave for Coronavirus 2019 isolation due to a positive test, offset by the number of Emergency Paid Sick Leave hours utilized under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and Ordinance No. 210029.

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WHEREAS, the United States Congress provided up to 80 hours Emergency Paid Sick Leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, Pub. L. No. 116-127, 134. Stat. 195, to employees of local governments when they were required to quarantine or isolate for various reasons related to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19); and

WHEREAS, the provision of paid leave to local government employees under the FFCRA expired December 31, 2020 and were not renewed by the United States Congress; and

WHEREAS, the Council provided paid leave for City employees required to quarantine who had not already utilized the leave previously provided under the FFCRA by Ordinance No. 210029; and

WHEREAS, Ordinance No. 210029 expired on May 14, 2021 when Mayor Lucas' emergency order was rescinded; and

WHEREAS, Kansas City currently has a vaccination rate of only forty percent; and

WHEREAS, cases of COVID-19 have increased with high community transmission of COVID-19 throughout Missouri, threatening both unvaccinated and vaccinated employees; and

WHEREAS, the Health Department has noted COVID-19 cases among vaccinated and unvaccinated people in Kansas City; and

WHEREAS, the symptoms of COVID-19 and the Delta variant are milder among vaccinated people than unvaccinated, but may still be spread by people who have tested positive whether vaccinated or not; and

WHEREAS, employees of the City who test positive must isolate themselves from others if ordered by the Health Department; and

WHEREAS, employees of the City may not be able to telework if their w...

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