46 | 2024 Cal-Peculiarities ©2024 Seyfarth Shaw LLP www.seyfarth.com Unused accrued compensated time off will carry over until the time off reaches a maximum of 192 hours, unless the employer’s established policy is more generous.188 Once an employee reaches the maximum accrued compensated time off, an employer must provide a cash payment once every 30 days for accrued compensation time off over the maximum.189 Employers cannot require employees to cash out any accrued compensated time off under the maximum.190 Employers can forego this payment by not having a cap at all, but that would result in an unlimited amount of accrued time off. Employers must also permit full-time employees to take at least 80 additional hours per year of uncompensated time off to be used for sick leave where the employee has exhausted their compensated time off for that year.191 Employees must be eligible to use accrued uncompensated time off after the first six months of employment or consistent with company policies, whichever is sooner.192 Unused, accrued uncompensated time off will carry over until the time off reaches a maximum of 80 hours, unless the employer’s established policy is more generous.193 Notably, the ordinance is silent with regard to the issue of payout upon separation. Thus, employers should follow California’s requirements with regard to separation pay as it pertains to vacation pay.194 2.15 Paid Leave for Organ or Bone Marrow Donation California employers must grant eligible employees leaves of absence to donate an organ or to donate bone marrow. An employee employed for at least 90 days may take up to five business days of paid leave during any one-year period to donate bone marrow, and up to 30 business days of paid leave during any one-year period to donate an organ. Employers must grant an additional unpaid leave of absence, up to 30 business days during a one-year period, for the purpose of organ donation.195 The one-year period is measured forward from the date an employee’s leave begins. Employers may require employees to use up to five days of earned but unused sick leave, vacation, or paid time off during the initial bone-marrow donation leave, and up to two weeks of earned but unused sick leave, vacation, or other paid time off during the initial organ-donation leave. These leaves are not a break in service for purposes of any right to salary adjustments, seniority, or accrual of sick leave, vacation, or annual leave, and employers must maintain and pay for group health coverage during the leaves. These leaves do not run concurrently with FMLA and CFRA leaves. Employees returning from leave generally must be reinstated to their same position or an equivalent position.196 2.16 Bereavement Leave Effective January 1, 2023, California added an unpaid bereavement leave entitlement for all California employees who have completed 30 days of employment with an employer.197 Eligible employees make take up to five days of unpaid leave for the death of their spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, or parent-in-law.198 Leave need not be taken all at once, but must be completed within three months of the death of the family member.199 If an employer has an existing bereavement leave policy, then leave under the employer policy and the new law run concurrently. If the employer policy does not provide a full five days of leave or does not cover certain family members now covered by law, then employees are entitled to additional unpaid time off in accordance with the new law.200 Employees may use available paid time off such as sick time, vacation, or PTO rather than taking the time off as unpaid.201 Employers may request that employees provide documentation to support their bereavement leave within 30 days of the first day of leave. Documentation may include a death certificate, published obituary, or written verification of death, burial, or memorial services from a mortuary, funeral home, burial society, crematorium, religious institution, or governmental agency.202
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