San Francisco has finalized amendments to its Paid Parental Leave Ordinance (PPLO), the decade-old local law requiring covered employers to supplement the wage-replacement benefits new parents receive from California’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) program. Mayor Daniel Lurie signed the amendment, File No. 260451 (Ordinance 162-26), on August 7, 2026, after the legislation was introduced by Supervisor Danny Sauter earlier in the year.
The PPLO itself dates to 2016, when San Francisco became the first jurisdiction in the country to require employers to bring new parents’ pay up to 100% of their normal wages during state-covered bonding leave. Under the ordinance, an employer with 20 or more employees worldwide must pay “Supplemental Compensation” — the gap between an employee’s PFL benefit and their full weekly wage, up to a combined statutory cap ($2,522 per week for claims filed in 2026) — for up to eight weeks, to any employee who works at least eight hours per week within San Francisco, performs at least 40% of their total work hours in the city, and is receiving California PFL benefits to bond with a new child through birth, adoption, or foster placement. Employers with an existing paid parental leave policy that already matches or exceeds what the ordinance requires are exempt from the supplemental-pay obligation.
The amendment’s central change is to the ordinance’s eligibility waiting period. Previously, an employee had to have worked for their employer for at least 180 days before qualifying for PPLO supplemental pay. The amendment cuts that requirement to 90 days — bringing it in line with the 90-day threshold already used under San Francisco’s separate Paid Sick Leave Ordinance. Supervisor Sauter, whose own child was born in March 2025, described the change as intended to make the benefit reachable for lower-wage workers in high-turnover industries, who are statistically less likely to stay with one employer long enough to clear a 180-day threshold. The amendment does not change the ordinance’s other core terms: the eight-week maximum duration, the supplemental-pay calculation method, the combined benefit cap, or employers’ existing obligations to post the required notice, include PPLO information in employee handbooks, and provide the Paid Parental Leave form to employees who give notice they are expecting a child.
The new 90-day standard does not take effect for all covered employers at once. The amendment phases it in based on employer size: employers with 100 or more employees remain subject to the old 180-day requirement through December 31, 2026, with the 90-day standard applying to leave periods beginning January 1, 2027; employers with 20 to 99 employees remain on the 180-day requirement through December 31, 2027, with the 90-day standard applying starting January 1, 2028. Employers with 19 or fewer employees remain outside the ordinance entirely, as under prior law.
On integration with the state program: the PPLO does not replace or duplicate California’s PFL benefit — it supplements it. California PFL, administered by the Employment Development Department (EDD) and funded through employee payroll contributions via State Disability Insurance, pays eligible workers a percentage of their wages (currently roughly 60% to 70%, depending on income) for up to eight weeks to bond with a new child, subject to a statewide weekly cap. The PPLO requires San Francisco employers meeting the size threshold to pay the difference between that state benefit and the employee’s full regular wage, so that the employee receives their normal weekly pay (up to the combined cap) rather than only the partial wage replacement PFL alone provides. To receive the full combined benefit, an employee must apply separately to both programs: first for EDD’s California PFL benefits, and then to their employer for PPLO supplemental compensation, providing the employer with EDD’s determination of the employee’s PFL benefit amount so the employer can calculate the required top-up. Because the PPLO’s Supplemental Compensation is legally tied to what an employee is found eligible to receive under state PFL, San Francisco’s benefit rises and falls with future changes to the state program’s wage-replacement percentage or its weekly benefit cap.
Employers should update parental leave policies and eligibility tracking to reflect the new phase-in schedule and monitor the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement’s PPLO webpage for updated posters, forms, and guidance implementing the amendment.
This summary is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Employers with questions about specific compliance obligations should consult the full ordinance text and the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement directly.