Legislature Cleans Up California’s New Paid Sick Leave Law
July 27, 2015 by Peter McEntee
Last year, California became the first state to pass legislation mandating employers to provide paid sick leave to its employees. The law, which became effective July 1, requires employers to provide paid sick leave to employees who have worked thirty days within the first year after being hired. The law also establishes a minimum accrual rate of one hour of paid sick leave for every thirty hours worked along with several other requirements regarding the use of paid sick leave.
Earlier this month the Legislature and the Governor approved slight amendments to the new law to clarify specific provisions of the paid sick leave requirements. These amendments are intended to clarify previous ambiguities and fix some concerns related to the implementation of the original law. The amendments:
- Clarify that employees must work for the same employer for 30 days within the first year of employment, and exclude retired annuitants from the paid sick leave requirement.
- Authorize employers to use an accrual calculation other than 1 hour for every 30 hours worked so long as the employee will have 24 hours of accrued sick leave within the first 120 days of employment.
- Clarify that employers may limit an employee’s use of paid sick day to 24 hours or 3 days in (a) each year of employment, (b) a calendar year, or (c) a 12-month period.
- Provide that an employer is not required to reinstate accrued paid sick leave to an employee who is rehired within one year of separation if the employee was paid out their paid sick leave at the time of the separation.
- Provide that employers do not have any obligation to inquire into or record the purposes for why an employee is using their paid sick leave.
There will likely continue to be concerns and disputes as the new paid sick leave requirement is being implemented. If you have questions related to the paid sick leave law and its implementation in your workplace, please contact one of our offices.
Sick leave laws in the news:
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/06/30/california-paid-sick-leave-july-1/29512711/
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