California Paid Sick Leave (PSL)

Under California’s Healthy Workplace Healthy Family Act (HWHFA), all employees (full-time, part-time and temporary) working in California for the same employer for at least 30 days within a year after beginning employment are eligible for paid sick leave. Employee must complete a 90-day employment period similar to a probationary period before taking any sick leave. Under California’s paid sick leave law, eligible employees can accrue paid time off to use when they are unable to work because of illness or to care for a family member. The time can also be used for reasons other than illness, including:

• Seeking a diagnosis,
• Preventative care, or
• Treatment and safety planning related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

Employers cannot deny an employee’s right to use sick time or retaliate against an employee for using it. An employee may be able to file a lawsuit against the employer for California labor law violations. At a minimum, California law requires 24 hours (or 3 days) of paid sick leave time per 12 month period for full-time employees. Employees earn a minimum of 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked.4 An employee is entitled to begin using accrued paid sick time beginning on the 90th day of employment. PSL can also carry over to the next year if an employee does not use their time. However, employers can put a cap on the total amount of carried over accrued sick leave at 48 hours or 6 days

Click below for the chart of California Side by Side comparisons of CA Paid Leave Options.

https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/Comparison-COVID-19-Paid-Leave.html