On September 10, 2014 California Governor Brown signed the “Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (AB 1522)” into law (the “Act”). Under current state law, nothing requires employers to provide sick days.
This new law entitles an employee
who works in California on or after July 1, 2015, to 30 or more days
from the commencement of their employment to: (1) be paid for
sick days for prescribed purposes, (2) accrue sick days at a rate of
“no less than one hour for every 30 hours worked,” and (3) have the
ability to use accrued sick days beginning on the 90th day of
employment.
The total number of accrued sick
days an employee could potentially be entitled to take depends on the
number of hours per week the employee is usually scheduled to work.
Paid sick days carry over to the
following year of employment. However, an employer is authorized
under the Act to limit an employee’s use of paid sick days to 24 hours
or 3 days in each year of employment, if the employer so chooses.
In summary, employers must:
- Pay, as sick leave benefits, the employee’s regular wage at the rate the employee normally earns during regular work hours.
- Pay sick leave benefits to
employees no later than the payday for the payroll period following the
time the sick leave was taken by the employee.
- Provide written notice on
pay dates to employees, setting forth the amount of sick leave benefits
available to the employee. The notice may be given on the employee’s
itemized wage statement or in a separate written document.
- Provide paid sick days for
the following purposes: (a) Diagnosis, care, or treatment of an
existing health condition of, or preventative care for, an employee or
an employee's family member, as defined; and (b) For an employee who is
a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, as
specified.
- Satisfy specific notice, posting, and recordkeeping requirements under the Act.
- Not discriminate or retaliate against any employee who requests paid sick days.
However, an employer is not
required to provide additional paid sick days if the employer has a
paid leave policy or paid time off policy that complies with the
requirements of the Act.
The Act defines specific terms and
contains a variety of exclusions, which should be reviewed by employers
and their attorneys to ensure full compliance with the law.
Patricia Jeanne Howze, Esq.
Copyright ©2014 by Patricia Jeanne Howze. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of this publication by any means without the express
written permission of Patricia Jeanne Howze is prohibited.
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of recent employment law. It is not meant to be, and should not be
considered legal advice.
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