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California Expands Paid Sick Leave Requirement

11/02/23

Author: ADP Admin/Monday, October 30, 2023/Categories: Compliance Corner

California has enacted legislation that will expand the amount of paid sick leave to which employees are entitled, extends some protections to employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement and partially pre-empts local paid sick leave laws.  The legislation (Senate Bill 616) takes effect Jan. 1, 2024.

The details

Current Law

Effective Jan. 1, 2024

Increased Annual Paid Sick leave

Current law gives employees the right to use up to 24 hours or three days (whichever is more) of paid sick leave per year.

Employees have the right to use up to40 hours or 5 days(whichever is more) of paid sick leave per year.

Increased Alternative Accrual Rate

Employees generally accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. An employer may use a different accrual method, other than providing one hour per every 30 hours worked, provided that the accrual is on a regular basis, so that an employee has no less than 24 hours of accrued sick leave or paid time off by the 120th calendar day of employment or each year.

Employees generally accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. An employer may use a different accrual method, other than providing one hour per every 30 hours worked, provided that the accrual is on a regular basis, so that an employee has no less than 24 hours of accrued sick leave or paid time off by the 120th calendar day of employment or each year,and no less than 40 hours of accrued sick leave or paid time off by the 200th calendar day of employment or each year.

Curent law also provides that an employer may satisfy the accrual requirements by providing not less than 24 hours or 3 days of paid sick leave that is available to the employee to use by the completion of the employee’s 120th calendar day of employment.

An employer may still satisfy the accrual requirements by providing no less than 24 hours or 3 days of paid sick leave that is available to the employee to use by the completion of the employee’s 120th calendar day of employment, and no less than 40 hours or 5 days of paid sick leave that is available to the employee to use by the completion of the employee’s 200th calendar day ofemployment.

Increased Use Cap

An employer may limit an employee’s use of accrued paid sick days to 24 hours or 3 days in each year.

An employer may limit an employee’s use of accrued paid sick days to40 hours or 5 daysin each year.

Increased Frontload Amount to Avoid Accrual and Carryover

Unused, accrued paid sick leave carries over to the following year of employment. This requirement is satisfied, and no accrual or carryover is required, if the full amount of leave is received at the beginning of each year. “Full amount of leave” for these purposes is defined as 3 days or 24 hours.

Unused paid sick leave carries over to the following year of employment. This requirement is satisfied, and no accrual or carryover is required, if the full amount of leave is received at the beginning of each year. “Full amount of leave” for these purposes is defined as5 days or 40 hours.

Increased Rolling Accrual Cap

An employer is under no obligation to allow an employee’s total accrual of paid sick leave to exceed 48 hours or 6 days, provided that an employee’s rights to accrue and use paid sick leave are not otherwise limited.

An employer is under no obligation to allow an employee’s total accrual of paid sick leave to exceed80 hours or 10 days, provided that an employee’s rights to accrue and use paid sick leave are not otherwise limited.

 

Impact to Pre-existing Policies

When the CA sick leave law was originally enacted in 2014, employers with existing paid sick or paid time off policies were not required to provide additional paid sick leave if the policy made an amount of leave available to employees that could be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions as provided under the law and the policy satisfied other specified conditions. One of those conditions requires the employer to have provided paid sick leave or paid time off in a manner that results in an employee’s eligibility to earn at least 3 days or 24 hours of sick leave or paid time off within 9 months of employment.

The condition will be changed so that the employee must be eligible to earnat least 5 days or 40 hoursof sick leave or paid time off within6 months of employment.

Impact to Providers of in-home Supportive Services

Providers of in-home supportive services and waiver personal care services are entitled to up to a maximum of 24 hours or 3 days each year of paid sick leave.

Providers of in-home supportive services and waiver personal care services are entitled to up to a maximum of40 hours or 5 dayseach year of paid sick leave.

Impact to Unionized Employees

Current law contains an exemption for non-construction unionized employees covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement (“CBA”) assuming the CBA provided for (1) certain wage and hour provisions, (2) final and binding arbitration of paid sick day disputes, (3) regular hourly rate or pay of at least 30% more than the state minimum wage, and (4) paid sick leave or other paid time off that could be used for paid sick leave reasons.

Employers that rely on the CBA exemption must satisfy certain aspects of the CA paid sick leave law including allowing unionized employees to use sick leave for the reasons specified under the law, no requirement to find a replacement worker, and no retaliation for use of paid sick leave.

 

 

 

Partial Preemption of local Paid Sick Leave Laws

The law sets forth provisions on compensation for accrued, unused paid sick leave upon termination of employment and reinstatement of leave upon rehire, the lending of paid sick days to employees, pay statement / separate writing requirements, the calculation of paid sick leave,* reasonable advance notification requirements, and the timing of payment of sick leave taken.

* As a reminder, paid sick leave must be paid at an employee’s “regular rate of pay” (e.g. the same rate used to calculate an employee’s overtime rate).

Local sick leave ordinance provisions with different standards are preempted.

Next steps

  • Review policies and procedures to ensure compliance with Senate Bill 616 beginning Jan. 1, 2024.
  • Train supervisors on the changes.

Please contact your ADP Service Representative with any questions.

 

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