California Sick Leave Update

Sick leave laws spread to a new state. California recently passed a law requiring employers within the state to grant workers annual paid sick leave. According to the new provision, employees accrue paid sick leave at a rate of one hour of leave for every 30 hours worked. Employers may limit the amount of paid leave used by individual employees to 24 hours a year, but any unused hours roll over to the following year. However, the total number of hours available for paid sick leave can be capped by employers at 48 hours, or six eight-hour workdays. Many cities, including Washington D.C., Portland and Seattle, have already enacted similar sick leave provisions. Additionally, both San Francisco and New York City have existing sick leave laws, as discussed in a previous article. California joins Connecticut, becoming only the second jurisdiction to adopt a state-wide sick leave regulation. The California law takes effect July 1, 2015.