Ten Things You Need to Know About California's New Sick Leave Law
Beginning July 1, 2015, any employee who works in California for 30 or more days in a calendar year is entitled to paid sick days as specified in the new Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014.
Here are ten things you need to know:
1. An eligible employee will accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, beginning at the commencement of employment. The employee accrues on the first day of work, but the employer may prevent the employee from taking any sick days before the completion of 90 days of employment. Sick leave is paid at the employee's regular hourly rate. If the pay fluctuates, for example if an employee is paid a commission or by piece rate, to determine the paid sick leave amount you must divide the employee's total compensation for the previous 90 days by the total number of hours worked by the employee.
2. Exempt employees are eligible for sick leave, and are considered to work 40 hours per workweek, unless their normal workweek is less than that, in which case the employee will accrue sick days based on that normal workweek.
3. Accrued but unused sick days will carry over to the following year of employment, but an employer may limit an employee’s use of paid sick days to 24 hours or three days in each calendar year of employment. An employer may avoid the carry over of paid sick leave if it adopts a policy that grants at least three days sick leave at the start of the year. An employer is not required to pay out unused sick leave at termination.
4. Previously accrued and unused sick days must be reinstated and immediately available, if an employee separates from an employer and is rehired within one year.
5. You may already be in compliance: If you already have a PTO or sick leave policy that is as or more generous than the law (be sure to check both accrual and use rules), you do not need to change anything in your handbook.
6. Sick leave must be provided for the following purposes:
(a) Diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health condition of, or preventive care for, an employee or an employee’s family member (as defined in the law); or
(b) For the purpose of obtaining or attempting to obtain a temporary restraining order, restraining order, or other injunctive relief, to help ensure the health, safety, or welfare of the victim or his or her child, or for the following purposes (i) To seek medical attention for injuries caused by domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; (ii) To obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, program, or rape crisis center as a result of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; (iii) To obtain psychological counseling related to an experience of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; or (iv) To participate in safety planning and take other actions to increase safety from future domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including temporary or permanent relocation.
7. You may not require that the employee find a replacement worker to cover sick days.
8. You may not discharge, threaten to discharge, demote, suspend, or in any manner discriminate against an employee for using accrued sick days, attempting to exercise the right to use accrued sick days, filing a complaint with the DLSE or alleging a violation of this law, cooperating in an investigation or prosecution of an alleged violation of this law, or opposing any policy or practice or act that is prohibited by this law.
9. You must give each employee written notice of the requirements of this law (as outlined by the law itself) in English, and in any other language spoken by at least 5 percent of the employees. Also, in each of your workplaces you must display a poster in a conspicuous place containing all the information specified in the law. The Labor Commissioner will create a poster containing this information and make it available to employers. Willful violation of the notice and posting requirements will result in a civil penalty of up to $100 per offense.
10. You must keep records documenting the hours worked and sick days accrued and used by an employee for at least five years.
If the Labor Commissioner finds a violation of this law, he or she may order reinstatement, back pay, the payment of sick days unlawfully withheld, and the payment of an additional sum in the form of an administrative penalty to an employee or other person whose rights under this article were violated. If paid sick days were unlawfully withheld, the dollar amount of paid sick days withheld from the employee multiplied by three, or two hundred fifty dollars ($250), whichever amount is greater, shall be included in the administrative penalty. In addition, if a violation of this article results in other harm to the employee or person, such as discharge from employment, or otherwise results in a violation of the rights of the employee or person, the administrative penalty shall include a sum of fifty dollars ($50) for each day or portion thereof that the violation occurred or continued.
Note! The law doesn’t cover employees covered by a CBA that expressly provides for paid sick leave.
Also Note! Paystubs going forward will need to reflect accrued sick leave. This means that if you offer PTO as your means of complying with this law, you should include PTO accrual in your pay stubs or risk being sued for failure to provide an accurate wage statement.
Feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
