Making Sense of California’s Paid Sick Leave Law

Beginning today, California businesses are required to provide paid sick leave to part-time and temporary workers. The new law can be confusing, especially for business who are not used to tracking employee time. We’ve put together a brief overview that should help answer any questions you may have.

What Does the Law Require?
AB 1522, or the Healthy Workplace Healthy family Act of 2014, guarantees up to three days of paid sick leave for virtually anyone in California who works for 30 or more days within a year of becoming employed.

Does This Affect Me If I Already Provide Paid Sick Leave to My Employees?
Yes. The law expands paid sick leave to part-time and temporary workers. You are now are legally required to provide this benefit to employees, and keep accurate records of employee-accrued sick time. These records must be kept for three years.

Are Small Businesses Exempt?
No, they are not. The law applies to full-time, part-time, temporary, salaried, and hourly workers. This includes household employees.

Are There Any Instances Where the Law Does Not Apply?
Yes. The law does not apply to independent contractors or freelancers. However, temporary employees from a staffing agency are covered by AB 1522. Employees covered by a union contract are also exempt.

How Am I Required to Provide Paid Sick Leave?
You must either allow employees to accrue sick leave, or provide a bulk amount at the beginning of the year.

Accrual
Employees will earn or accrue at least one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, beginning July 1. This essentially adds up to eight days per year for a full-time employee. Employers can limit the use of paid sick leave to 24 hours per year. While unused sick pay can be carried over to the following year, employers can limit its use to three days per year and cap an employee’s sick leave accrual at 48 hours.

Bulk
If employers do not want to use an accrual method to track employee sick leave, they can provide 24 (or more) hours of paid sick leave at the beginning of each year. 

How Soon Can Employees Use Paid Sick Leave?
Workers must be in their job for a minimum of 90 days before they can use sick leave. They are to be paid at their regular hourly rate.

Do I Need to Pay My Employees for Unused Paid Sick Leave?
No, you are not required to pay your workers for unused sick days.

How Many Workers Are Affected by This Law?
Proponents of AB 1522 say that roughly 40 percent of the state’s workforce — roughly 6.5 million workers — will get paid sick leave for the first time.

Does This Legislation Affect Other States?
Right now, only California, Connecticut, and Massachusetts have passed laws mandating paid sick leave. Granted, 18 U.S. cities have done so as well, and more may add similar legislation in the future.

Need a Simple Way to Ensure Paid Sick Leave Compliance?
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