July 1, 2015, employees who work in California for 30 or more days within a year from the commencement of employment will accrue paid sick leave at a rate of no less than one hour for every 30 hours worked. Exempt employees will be deemed to work 40 hours per week for accrual purposes, unless their normal workweek schedule is less than 40 hours, in which case they will accrue paid sick leave based upon that normal workweek.
There are cities in California that supersedes this law. Please check your local rules.
Employees will be entitled to use accrued paid sick days beginning on the 90th day of employment, after which they may use paid sick days as they are accrued. Employers will also have the discretion to lend paid sick days to an employee in advance of accrual, and employers cannot require employees to locate a replacement worker to cover days on which an employee uses paid sick days.
While accrued paid sick days shall carry over to the following year of employment, employers may limit an employee’s use of paid sick leave to 24 hours, or three days, in each year of employment. However, no accrual or carry-over is required if the full amount of sick leave is received at the beginning of each year. An employer also has no obligation to allow an employee’s total accrual of paid sick leave to exceed 48 hours or six days, provided that an employee’s rights to accrue and use paid sick leave under this section are not otherwise limited. This six-day accrual limit appears intended to ensure the employee has their full sick leave rights both for the instant year and the beginning of the next year.
Employers will not be required to compensate employees for unused sick days upon employment ending, but they must reinstate the previously unused balance if they rehire the employee within one year. In that instance, the rehired employee shall be entitled to use those previously accrued and unused paid sick days and to accrue additional paid sick days upon rehiring.
Employees will be entitled to use paid sick time for preventive care for themselves or a family member, as well as for the diagnosis, care, or treatment of their or their family member’s existing health condition. For purposes of this bill, “family member” means a (1) child (as defined), (2) parent (as defined), (3) spouse, (4) registered domestic partner, (5) grandparent, (6) grandchild, or (7) sibling. The employer shall also provide paid sick days for an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, as discussed in Labor Code sections 230 and 230.1.
An employee may determine how much paid sick leave they need to use, but an employer may set a reasonable minimum increment, not to exceed two hours, for the use of paid sick leave. In response to employer concerns sick leave is more unpredictable than many other leaves (e.g., Family and Medical Leave Act, etc.), this bill requires employees to provide “reasonable” advance notification if the need for paid sick leave is foreseeable. Where the need for paid sick leave is unforeseeable, the employee shall provide notice of the need for leave as soon as practicable.
Employees using paid sick leave shall be compensated at the employee’s normal rate during regular hours of work. If the employee in the 90 days of employment before taking accrued sick leave had different hourly pay rates, was paid by commission or piece rate, or was a nonexempt salaried employee, then the rate of pay shall be calculated by dividing the employee’s total wages, not including overtime premium pay, by the employee’s total hours worked in the full pay periods of the prior 90 days of employment.
The Paid Sick Leave law only exempts the following employees:
- Employees covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement if the agreement expressly provides paid sick days or paid leave for sick days, final and binding arbitration of disputes about paid sick days, premium wage rates for all overtime, and a regular hourly rate of pay of not less than 30 percent more than the state minimum wage rate;
- Employees in the construction industry covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement;
- Providers of in-home support services; and
- Employees of an air carrier flight deck or cabin crew members.
If you already have a sick pay plan policy plan in place, as long as that plan provides 24 hours of sick pay, you don’t need to anything further.
Please go to:
http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Publications/Paid_Sick_Days_Poster_Template_(11_2014).pdf
For the required notice you will need to post July 1, 2015
Please contact Payroll Data Processing to start your plan. And how to enroll your current and future new hires on to the plan.
Thank you
