California Paid Sick Law

An employee accrues one hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours, up to a maximum of 48 hours or six days per year. For example, if an employee worked 300 hours, the employee earned 30 hours of paid sick leave.

For example: Julia works full-time (8 hours per day) in Irvine, California, at a flower shop, and she loves helping customers pick out the perfect plants and flowers. Unfortunately, Julia has acute asthma that flares up during the spring and summer.

Julia has accrued two weeks (80 hours) of paid sick leave over her time at the store. Then, in May, she tells her employer that she needs to take four days off due to allergies. After taking off only three days, Julia returns to work, feeling better.

However, Julia is at work the following week when she finds herself struggling to breathe. At the hospital, the doctor says she has an infection in her lungs and needs to recuperate in bed for a maximum of ten days.

When Julia sends a doctor’s note to her boss at the flower shop, Julia’s boss asks to speak with her. Julia’s boss tells her that she cannot take any more days off this month. Julia explains that she has ten days of accrued sick time and intends to take it. With that, Julia’s boss fires her for not working enough.

In this scenario, which party is correct? Can Julia use her allotted paid sick time over two weeks?

Answer: The paid sick days may be taken in consecutive days or in parts during a year. Julia had earned 10 paid sick days before she was sick. Julia first used 3 days (24 hours) of paid sick days; 10 paid sick days available minus 3 days = 7 sick days (or 56 hours) left to use. Then, Julia needed another 10 days (or 60 hours) for sick leave. Julia is entitled to 7 paid sick days and 3 unpaid sick days.

What is the 2023 New Sick Leave Law in California?

Whether it is a winter virus, a summer flu, or a bothersome cold, we all must take sick leave from work at some point. Even for the healthiest employee in the office, getting sick is unavoidable, and no one wants to spread a virus or a cold.

However, many California employees remain unclear about the process of taking sick leave, what happens to their hours, and whether or not they need a doctor’s note. Plus, workers often worry about losing their pay or their boss holding their sick days against them. Being sick creates enough stress, and California employees should not have to worry about their incomes simultaneously.

California’s sick leave laws, newly established in 2015, require companies to provide paid sick days to all workers, regardless of whether they are part-time, temporary, or full-time employees. However, there is more that both employees and employers should know about California’s paid sick law policies. Additionally, some companies choose to violate sick leave laws and therefore violate their employees’ rights.

In this article, we will discuss the most important aspects of California’s paid sick leave law and how it impacts employers and employees.

How Many Days of Paid Sick Leave Are California Workers Entitled To?

California employers can provide paid sick leave to their workers in two unique ways.

First, employers can provide employees with 24 hours of sick leave. Then, the worker can use those 24 hours until their 120th day of work. Many companies use this option because it allows them to give workers less paid sick leave.

Second, the company can allow workers to collect an hour of paid leave every 30 hours, up to 48 hours, or six days of paid leave. So, for example, a 40-hour weekly schedule creates a little over five hours of sick leave every four weeks.

The key is that California employers are required to provide workers with paid sick leave. If they do not, employees should contact an experienced employment attorney.

California Workers Receive Paid Sick Leave

California requires employers to offer their workers 24 hours (or three work days) of paid sick leave per calendar year.

The law dictates that workers use paid sick leave for the following reasons:

Caring for, treating, or diagnosing a family member with a serious health condition
Caring for, treating, or diagnosing an employee with a serious health condition

The care the employee or family member needs can be preventative or address an existing condition.

California Workers Can Take Paid Sick Leave in Two-Hour Blocks

California’s paid sick leave law expresses that employees, not employers, must determine how much sick leave they need on a given day. Additionally, employers can set suitable increments of two-hour blocks for paid sick leave.

This point is sometimes overlooked or adjusted by employers, who may require their employees to take sick leave in larger increments, such as four or eight hours. For example, this rule means a worker might need to go to a 30-minute doctor’s appointment but still have to miss four or eight hours of work.

Employees must recognize that it is wrong and their rights are violated if this occurs. If a California company forces its workers to take leave in blocks that span over two hours, employees should contact an experienced employment lawyer.

After Being Employed for 90 Days, California Employees Can Use Their Paid Sick Leave

In California, workers accrue paid sick leave on one condition: if they work for the same company for a minimum of 90 days. Regardless of their schedule, employees collect sick days, and this rule applies to employees that are:

Per-diem workers
Temporary employees
Full-time employees
Part-time employees

Paid sick leave applies to all California employees, with very few exceptions.

Notably, recently hired workers to have to wait three months before taking advantage of their paid sick leave time. Then, when a worker’s 90th day of work arrives, they can begin using their paid sick leave. This rule applies to calendar days after the initial work date and not working days.

It is not the Employee’s Responsibility to Find a Replacement.

Some California employers are wrongly informed regarding who is responsible for covering employees’ shifts. Employers are barred from asking their workers to find alternate workers to cover their shifts when on paid sick leave. The paid sick leave law explicitly states that companies cannot require their employees to locate replacement workers.

It would be unfair for employers to ask sick employees to contact co-workers and ask them to work their shifts, and the law stipulates that this situation should not exist.

However, some California companies still have policies forcing workers to cover their shifts. When faced with this task, individuals should realize that it is illegal and contact an experienced attorney for a consultation.

Employers Must Include Available Sick Time on Employee Paystubs

Many California workers aren’t sure how much sick time they have left, and when they wake up feeling ill, they aren’t sure what to do. When employees are uninformed regarding paid sick leave, it creates multiple problems for employees and employers.

However, California companies must provide workers with information regarding how much sick leave they have left. Where should this information be displayed?

When employers pay their workers, they receive paystubs, either in paper form or online work accounts. Paystubs must include the amount of sick time remaining according to state law. The one exception to this rule is that some employers do not include the time left on the paystub but rather give it to employees separately, alongside their paychecks.

Some employers, however, do not think this information is necessary, and others refuse to include it because they think it will lessen the chances of workers taking paid sick leave. If an employer doesn’t include the amount of the employee’s collected sick leave on their paystub, they violate the worker’s rights. If this breach occurs, contact a lawyer.

Employees Should Give Employers Advance Notice—When They Can

California employees should try their best to provide their employers with notice regarding the need to use paid sick leave. However, the paid sick leave law stipulates that employees should give notice when they are able and recognizes that workers cannot anticipate some sicknesses or emergencies.

Sometimes, individuals grow sick suddenly, or their children or parents are quickly afflicted. It is not always possible to provide employers with advance notice. Not everyone knows when and how severely they will get sick. The key provision in the law is that employees must provide notice to employers, but it is to be “as soon as they can” rather than within a specific timeframe.

Some employers fire employees who do not provide them with advance notice or who suddenly take paid sick leave. Termination, for this reason, violates employee rights in California, and if this happens, one should contact a licensed attorney.

Doctor’s Notes Are Not Necessary

Some California employees are under the impression that they must supply doctor’s notes to their employers when they leave work and return. However, employers cannot ask workers to provide a note from a doctor to use the sick leave they have collected.

The paid sick law’s language details that the employer provides sick time when the employee makes a “written or oral request” but does not include any information about a doctor’s note. Therefore, companies cannot require that all sick employees provide them with doctor’s notes every time they grow ill.

There are two main reasons for this doctor’s note rule. The first is that a visit to the doctor’s office is expensive for some employees and can be a burden. For example, a part-time employee without medical insurance may not want to pay for a doctor’s visit every time they get sick, especially if they only have a cold or a minor virus.

The second reason is that not all sicknesses require a doctor’s visit. For example, an employee with bad allergies or a common cold may need a few days of rest and some over-the-counter medications to feel better and return to work.

Using Paid Sick Leave Is Not a Valid Reason For Employee Termination

California employers cannot pay off workers for taking sick leave, nor can they penalize them for asking to use paid sick time or how much sick time they have accrued.

The specific language of the paid sick leave law establishes that companies cannot deny workers the ability to use sick days. Businesses also cannot discriminate against workers in any way for using sick time, trying to use their sick days, or formally complaining that they were unable to use their paid sick leave.

Nevertheless, some California companies see fit to deny workers their right to take paid sick time off or penalize them for the asking to take time off to recover. When this occurs, our advice for employers is to know your rights. Individuals who are penalized for taking their rightful sick time off may be able to claim wrongful termination and should contact a reputable wrongful termination lawyer.

Employers Can Penalize Workers for Taking Sick Time When They Do Not Have Any

It is never ideal when a worker falls ill but does not have any paid sick leave yet, or they have been sick often and have used it all. However, this situation does occur fairly frequently, and options for remedies do exist.

Some employers will potentially penalize the individual for missing work with no paid sick time to use, and it is within their right to do so legally. However, most California employers understand that some people fall ill more often than others and that sickness also has to do with luck and is often out of the employee’s control.

Some employers will allow workers to miss additional days without pay, and some will contact the worker to figure out a different solution. If these options fail, sick employees can reference the country’s Family Medical Leave Act (FFML) to take unpaid leave based on an unforeseen illness.

Contact a California Employment Lawyer for Help With Paid Sick Leave

In California and across the country, the issue of paid sick leave grows complicated for employees and employers. Reviewing the paid sick leave law is helpful for workers and companies alike, but sometimes the policies surrounding sick time off remain confusing.

This complicated situation creates opportunities for employers and employees to violate the law and discriminate against each other. For example, employees may attempt to take advantage of sick leave laws, while companies might not allow their employees proper paid sick leave.

At Nakase Wade, our goal is to protect your rights. Employers should be able to accrue and use paid sick leave as the law states, and employers have their own sick time rights.

Contact Nakase Wade today if you feel that your employer has violated your rights, or your employee breaches their employment contract. Our experienced, skilled legal team knows California’s paid sick time law, and we want to help you take full advantage of the state’s opportunities.

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