On Wednesday, April 29, the Los Angeles City Council adopted the Worker Retention and Right of Recall Ordinances.  During the April 22 Council meeting, the Ordinances were amended, among other things, to cover only certain businesses.  Specifically, only airport businesses, commercial property businesses, event center businesses, and hotel businesses (and restaurants within the physical premises of hotels) are covered by the Ordinances.

The Right of Recall Ordinance would now require covered employers to make a written offer of recall to a Laid Off Worker –as defined in the Ordinance– of any position which is or becomes available for which the worker is available.  To be qualified, the laid off worker must have either 1) held the same or similar position at the same site of employment at the time of the most recent separation, or 2) is or can be qualified for the position by providing the same training that a brand new hire would receive for the position.

The Worker Retention Ordinance would require the specific businesses listed above to retain certain workers if a change in ownership or control (such as a sale, acquisition, etc.) occurs within 2 years from the date of the COVID-19 emergency declaration.  Amongst other things, this Ordinance would require the “successor business” to hire from a preferential list provided by the “incumbent business” for at least 6 months after the successor business opens its operation to the public.  The Ordinance would also require the successor business to retain such workers for at least 90 days, and conduct performance evaluations after the 90-day period.

For a more detailed summary of both Ordinances, read our previous post here. The Ordinances are currently before Mayor Garcetti, who has until May 11, 2020 to approve or veto them.  As Mayor Garcetti previously expressed his intent of signing off on these Ordinances, it is very likely the Ordinances will be chartered and become effective rather soon.  We will continue to monitor any new developments.