California Sick Leave Law: Accrual, Use, and Employee Rights

California’s paid sick leave rules are one part of the broader set of California labor laws governing wages, hours, and time off. This article covers who is entitled to paid sick leave, how it accrues and carries over, when and why it can be used, how employers must pay for it, and how the statewide floor interacts with the stronger ordinances in some cities.

Who qualifies for paid sick leave

The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 reaches almost every employee in California. Under Cal. Lab. Code § 246, an employee who works for the same employer for at least 30 days within a year in California is entitled to paid sick leave. Part-time, temporary, and seasonal workers count, and there is no minimum company size. A household that hires a nanny or caregiver is an employer under the law the same as a large company is.

A few groups sit outside the statewide rule. Employees covered by a qualifying collective bargaining agreement with specified sick-leave and wage terms, certain retired annuitants of public agencies, and some airline flight deck and cabin crew who already receive comparable paid time are treated separately under Cal. Lab. Code § 245.5. Everyone else who meets the 30-day threshold is covered.

How paid sick leave accrues

The default method is accrual by hours worked. An employee earns one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, beginning on the first day of employment, under Cal. Lab. Code § 246. Exempt employees are assumed to work 40 hours per week for accrual purposes unless their normal workweek is shorter.

An employer can use a different accrual schedule as long as an employee has at least 24 hours or three days of sick leave available by the 120th calendar day of employment, and at least 40 hours or five days available by the 200th calendar day. As an alternative to accrual, an employer can front-load the full annual amount at the start of each year, which avoids tracking accrual and carryover.

Accrued sick leave that goes unused carries over to the next year. The employer can cap total accrued leave at 80 hours or 10 days, whichever is greater. Front-loaded plans do not have to allow carryover, because the full annual grant is provided fresh each year.

When you can use sick leave and for what

An employee can begin using accrued paid sick leave on the 90th day of employment, and after that can use it as it accrues, under Cal. Lab. Code § 246. The 90-day clock runs from the start of employment, not from the day accrual begins.

The permitted reasons are set by Cal. Lab. Code § 246.5. Sick leave covers diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health condition, and preventive care, for the employee or a family member. It also covers absences related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, including seeking medical attention, safety planning, or help from a court. A “family member” under Cal. Lab. Code § 245.5 includes a child, parent, spouse, registered domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, and a designated person the employee identifies.

1. Confirm you have available leave

   Check the sick leave balance shown on the itemized wage statement or a separate written notice each payday. An employee can use sick leave once it has accrued and the 90th day of employment has passed.

2. Give notice to the employer

   Notice can be spoken or written. When the need is foreseeable, such as a scheduled medical appointment, advance notice is expected; when it is not, notice as soon as practical is enough. An employer cannot require an employee to find a replacement worker to cover the shift.

3. Use leave in the allowed increments

   An employer can set a reasonable minimum increment for using sick leave, but not more than two hours. Beyond that minimum, an employee uses leave in the amount actually needed.

4. Get paid on the next payday

   The employer pays for sick leave taken no later than the payday for the next regular payroll period after it is used.

How much you get and how it is paid

An employer can limit an employee’s use to 40 hours or five days in each year of employment, calendar year, or 12-month period, under Cal. Lab. Code § 246. This annual use cap is separate from the 80-hour cap on total accrued leave. An employer can be more generous than either figure, but not less.

Sick leave is paid at the employee’s regular rate of pay. For an employee who earns different rates, commissions, or piece rate, the employer calculates the sick-leave rate either as the regular rate for the workweek the leave is taken or by dividing total non-overtime wages by total non-overtime hours over the prior 90 days. This is the same regular-rate concept that drives California overtime law, so non-discretionary bonuses and commissions can push the sick-leave rate above the base hourly wage. Payment must reach the employee no later than the next regular payday after the leave is used.

Notice, retaliation, and unused leave at separation

Employers have to tell employees how much sick leave they have. The available amount appears on the itemized wage statement or on a separate written notice provided each pay period. Employers also post a workplace notice describing paid sick leave rights, required by Cal. Lab. Code § 247.

Retaliation is prohibited. An employer cannot deny the use of sick leave, discharge, demote, or otherwise discriminate against an employee for using or requesting paid sick leave, or for filing a complaint about it, under Cal. Lab. Code § 246.5. An employee who believes a violation occurred can file a claim with the state Labor Commissioner, and a discharge for using or requesting protected sick leave can also support a claim for wrongful termination in California.

City ordinances that go further

Several California cities passed local paid sick leave ordinances before the state law and kept them in force. Where a city ordinance and the state law both apply, the employee receives whichever provision is more protective.

San Francisco’s Sick Leave Ordinance, now in Article 11 of the Labor and Employment Code, uses the same one-hour-per-30-hours accrual but caps accrued leave at 72 hours for most employers and 40 hours for small businesses with fewer than 10 workers. Los Angeles requires employers to provide up to 48 hours of sick leave each year, either front-loaded or accrued, with an accrual cap of 72 hours, under Los Angeles Municipal Code § 187.04. Santa Monica sets its own accrual and carryover caps of 72 hours for larger employers and 40 hours for those with 25 or fewer employees, under Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 4.62 (§ 4.62.025). Emeryville, Oakland, San Diego, and Berkeley have their own ordinances as well.