Many California state workers in hospitals, prisons, parks and law enforcement are not eligible for the federal government’s recent expansion of paid sick time and family leave, according to new guidance from the California Department of Human Resources.

The federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act provides two weeks of paid sick leave and 10 weeks of family and medical leave to most public and private workers affected by the coronavirus. The law, which went into effect April 1, covers parents of children whose schools or day cares have been closed.

The federal law creates an exclusion for health care providers and emergency responders. On Saturday, CalHR published a list of job classifications the state has excluded from the federal benefits.

The list includes about two dozen classifications at the California Highway Patrol along with dozens more at the departments of Corrections and Rehabilitation, State Hospitals, and Parks and Recreation.

The list includes doctors, nurses, patrol and peace officers along with lifeguards, painters, mechanics, chaplains and many other classifications.

The list could be expanded as departments “assess their positions and determine which ones are critical to state operations and meet U.S. Department of Labor definitions,” CalHR spokesman Andrew LaMar said in an email.

CalHR first published guidance on April 1 for the HR officers at departments charged with administering the new benefits for state workers.

Workers attempting to use the expanded leave have encountered differing interpretations of its availability from department to department, according to state union leaders.

U.S. Senate Democrats have proposed paying “front-line” workers such as health care and emergency workers an extra $13 per hour during the coronavirus emergency.

California state unions have pushed for similar proposals here as a way to create fairness for workers who must keep showing up in person for work.

This story was originally published April 14, 2020 at 6:00 AM with the headline "California excludes health care workers, emergency responders from federal sick leave."