What are the requirements of the California paid sick leave law?

Editor's Note: This content has been updated to reflect changes made by Senate Bill 616 to the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act, effective Jan. 1, 2024.

The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (AB 1522), as amended by SB 616, requires employers with employees working in the state of California to implement paid sick leave.  

Employees who work in California for 30 or more days in a year (for the same employer) and have satisfied a 90-day employment period from the beginning of employment are entitled to paid sick leave. This includes temporary, part-time and seasonal employees, as well as out-of-state employees (as long as they work in California for 30 or more days in the year, and the 30 days worked need not be continuous).

Beginning on the first day of employment, employees will earn paid leave according to the employer's policy, which must be either at least one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked, or no less than 24 hours of accrued paid sick leave or paid time off by the 120th calendar day of employment, and no less than 40 hours of accrued paid sick leave or paid time off by the 200th calendar day of employment, and then subsequently in each calendar year, or other 12-month period. However, employers can limit the amount of paid sick leave taken annually to 40 hours, or five days, and cap the amount of paid sick leave that can be accrued to 80 hours, or 10 days.

Employers may use existing PTO policies as long as those policies comply with the minimum requirements of the law for the accrual, carryover and use of sick leave. As an alternative to the accrual of one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, employers are permitted to use an upfront or advance method, in which the full amount of accrued leave (no less than 40 hours, or five days) must be available to the employee at the beginning of the 12-month period.

The law allows employees to take paid leave for themselves or their family members for diagnosis, preventive care (e.g., annual physical or flu shot), for care of an existing health condition or for specified purposes if the employee is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking. Sick leave may be used in increments of less than one day; however, employers may set a minimum increment use not to exceed two hours.

Employees covered by qualifying collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), In-Home Supportive Services providers (who are covered under the IHSS Paid Sick Leave Program), retired annuitants working for governmental entities, and certain employees of air carriers are generally not covered by this law; however, employees working under a CBA must be allowed to use any paid sick leave for the same reasons as indicated under the act, including for certain purposes for an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

Employers are required to post, in a conspicuous place at the workplace, a poster notifying employees of the law, and are required to provide most newly hired nonexempt employees with an individualized "Notice to Employee" that includes paid sick leave information. This notice requirement does not apply to employees who are exempt from the payment of overtime, though they are otherwise covered by the law.

Although the law requires that employers separately track sick leave accrual and use, for employers with unlimited paid time off plans, the notice, itemized pay stub or separate written statement provided with the payment of wages meets this requirement by indicating the paid sick leave is "unlimited".

The law also requires employers to show on the employee's pay stub or document issued the same day as the paycheck the number of paid sick leave days available. Employers must keep records for at least three years showing how many hours were worked and how many paid sick leave hours were accrued and used. This information may be stored on documents available to employees electronically.