Bar a limited number of exclusions, California sick leave law means that employees who work more than 30 days within a year will accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. This equals approximately 8.7 days for a full time employee; however employers may limit paid sick leave to a maximum of 24 hours (approx. 3 days) in a year.
New employees will begin accruing sick pay from the date their employment commences; however California sick leave law will state that employees are unable to use their accrued sick leave until they have been employed for 90 consecutive days.
Should an employee leave their position (regardless of the circumstances involved), they will not be entitled to compensation for unused sick pay. However should an employee be rehired within a year of terminating their employment, they will be entitled to use previously accrued leave.
A limited number of employees (and employers) will be unaffected by the California sick leave law. These are:
California sick leave law will state that employees who are paid hourly must be paid sick leave in accordance with their standard rate of pay.
If an employee is paid in accordance with a fluctuating rate of pay (i.e. commission or piece work), their rate of pay for sick leave is determined by dividing the employee's total earnings from the 90 days previous to a sick day, by the total number of hours worked in that same period (excluding overtime premiums).
Employees are permitted not only to use paid sick leave should they themselves fall ill, but if a family member falls ill too. California sick leave law also states that an employee may use accrued sick leave should they be a victim of sexual assault, domestic violence, or stalking.
The law also states that if an employee is able to predict the need to use sick leave (for example, in anticipation of a hospital stay), the employee must provide 'reasonable' advance notice to their employer.
Additionally, paid sick leave does not need to be used in whole day blocks - the employer may set a minimum increment, which should be no less than two hours.
The above is just an overview of the California sick leave law - we advise that, ahead of implementation, employers familiarise themselves with the full set of conditions set out by the law, which you can find here.