On July 13, 2015, the California Governor signed into law emergency legislation, effective immediately, amending and clarifying portions of California’s Paid Sick Leave Law. The key provisions of the amendment:
- Provide that an employer is not required to reinstate accrued paid time off to an employee, rehired within one year of separation from employment, that was paid out at the time of termination, resignation, or separation.
- Permit an employer who provides unlimited sick leave to its employees to satisfy notice requirements by indicating “unlimited” on the employee’s itemized wage statement.
- Require that the employee perform at least 30 hours of work in California for the same employer in order to qualify for accrued sick leave.
- Authorize an employer to limit an employee’s use of paid sick days to 24 hours or 3 days in each year of employment, a calendar year, or a 12-month period.
- Provide options on how to pay sick days for non-exempt employees and direction on how to pay exempt employees.
- Provide two alternative accrual methods for employers who want to use an accrual vs. front-load method.
- Change the front-load method to require that employees be permitted to use their sick leave by the 120th calendar day of employment.
- Provide that an employer is not required to provide additional paid sick days if the employer has a paid leave policy or paid time off policy, the employer makes available an amount of leave applicable to employees for specified uses, and the policy satisfies specified accrual, carry over, and use requirements, or that provided paid sick leave or paid time off to employees before January 1, 2015, as specified, or that are provided pursuant to specified provisions of law or of a memorandum understanding that meet the requirements of these provisions.
- Provide that the employer has no obligation to inquire into or record the purposes for which an employee uses sick leave or paid time off.
A copy of the amendments are located here.
– Keesal, Young & Logan Employment Group
This information has been prepared by Keesal, Young & Logan for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Transmission of the information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship between you and Keesal, Young & Logan. You should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel.