Employers Required to Provide California Employees with Paid Sick Leave Come July 1, 2015
Employers Required to Provide California Employees with Paid Sick Leave Come July 1, 2015by Laura Lough, Esq (APA)
Assembly Bill 1522, the California Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, was recently enacted into law. This new law requires employers to provide California employees with paid sick leave (PSL), effective July 1, 2015.
Under the new law, an employee who works in California for 30 or more days within a year is entitled to 1 hour of PSL for every 30 hours worked. PSL can be used for the diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health condition or preventative treatment of the employee or a family member. PSL can also be used by an employee who is the victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
An employee’s use of PSL can be limited by an employer to 24 hours or 3 days in each year of employment. An employer can also limit the employee’s total accrual to 48 hours or 6 days a year. Accrued paid sick days will carry over to the following year; however, employers do not have to pay employees for unused, accrued PSL upon termination.
Employers will be required to send a notice of the new law to employees and post requirements in a visible spot in the workplace. The California Labor Commissioner’s office will enforce the PSL requirements, and employers can face penalties for noncompliance. Currently, only Connecticut and the District of Columbia have PSL requirements.
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