©2024 Seyfarth Shaw LLP www.seyfarth.com 2024 Cal-Peculiarities | 39 the employee “is otherwise entitled to take,”111 suggesting that an employer cannot require an employee on military spousal leave to concurrently use other leave that the employee is entitled to take. Employers must not retaliate or otherwise discriminate against employees requesting military spousal leave. 2.14 Paid Sick Leave In most states, and in the absence of a federal mandate, employers are not required to pay workers while they are on sick leave. California is one of about 17 states that, as of 2023, have enacted some form of paid sick leave law. California followed the lead of the City of San Francisco, which, in 2007, became the first American city to mandate paid sick leave for private employees. Since then, California and many of its cities and counties have followed suit, with each local jurisdiction piling on to make its own peculiar piece in a patchwork of paid sick laws. Generally speaking, California employers must comply with whichever material provision – state or local – that is the most generous to employees. During 2020, local laws spread like a coronavirus among cities and counties seeing a need for special employer mandates to provide supplemental sick pay for Covid-related reasons.112 All of those special measures have since expired, but they left their mark. For example, San Francisco opted to pass a permanent Public Health Emergency Leave law in the event of a future pandemic or other public health emergency.113 2.14.1 California Paid Sick Leave Law In 2014, California became the second state (after Connecticut) to impose a state-wide PSL law. The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act (the California Paid Sick Leave Law) created a poster requirement, an amended Wage Theft Prevention Act Notice requirement, and a PSL entitlement provision (including specific PSL accrual provisions). In September 2023, the California legislature passed SB 616, which expanded the State’s existing paid sick leave mandate effective January 1, 2024.114 The most significant change in the amended law is an increase to the annual PSL entitlement from 24 hours (or three days) to 40 hours (or five days) of paid sick leave per year. 115 This update resulted in changes to the accrual cap, annual usage cap, and frontloading requirements. The California PSL law covers virtually all employees (including part-time, temporary, and seasonal employees) who work in California for the same employer for 30 or more days within a year.116 Rate of accrual. Covered employees must accrue no less than one hour of PSL for every 30 hours worked.117 An employer may use a different accrual method so long as the accrual is on a regular basis that gives employees no less than 24 hours of PSL or paid time off by the 120th calendar day of employment (and each 12-month period thereafter), and no less than 40 hours of accrued PSL or paid time off by the 200th calendar day of employment (and each 12 month period thereafter).118 The accrual rate for exempt employees is based on a presumed 40-hour workweek, except that an exempt employee whose normal workweek is less than 40 hours accrues PSL based on that employee’s normal workweek.119 Employees must be permitted to carry over all accrued, unused PSL to the following year, but employers may cap the accrual of PSL at 80 hours or ten days (whichever is greater).120 As an alternative to the accrual method, employers may “lump grant” the greater of 40 hours or five days of PSL upon hire and at the beginning of each year thereafter.121 The law does not require an employer to provide additional paid sick days if (1) the employer has an existing paid leave or PTO policy, (2) the employer makes the paid leave available under the same conditions as stated in the law, and (3) the existing policy either (a) satisfies the accrual, carry-over, and use requirements of the law or (b)
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