New Paid Sick Leave Law in Effect
As of January 1, 2024, California has expanded its paid sick leave law under the Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act (HWHFA). According to the California Labor Commissioner’s Office (LCO), employers must now allow workers to use at least 40 hours or five days of paid sick leave per year, an increase from the previous 24 hours or three days. Some cities or regions in California may require employers to provide additional sick leave.
In compliance with the updates, any employers previously providing less than five days or 40 hours of paid sick leave per year must provide employees a new copy of the notice. Additionally, employers are required to display a poster in an area frequented by employees where it may easily be read during the workday. Scan the code below to access and print your poster, or create your own.
The LCO has also developed an extensive list of frequently asked questions. We’ve compiled a few pertaining to Bay Area SMACNA contractors:
Does paid sick leave apply to all employees who work in California?
All employees who work at least 30 days for the same employer within a year in California, including part-time, per diem, in-home supportive services (IHSS) providers and temporary employees, are covered by this law with some narrow exceptions.
Which employees are exempt or partially exempt from the paid sick leave law?
Employees exempt from the paid sick leave law include those in the construction industry covered by a collective bargaining agreement with specified provisions.
What options do employers have to provide paid sick leave?
Employers may choose to have an “accrual” policy or an “up-front” policy.
- An accrual policy is one where employees earn sick leave over time, with the accrued time carrying over in each year of employment. In general terms (and subject to some exceptions), employees under an accrual plan must earn at least one hour of paid sick leave for each 30 hours of work, also known as the 1:30 schedule. Employers are allowed by law to limit an employee’s use of paid sick leave to 40 hours or five days during the year, and can also limit an employee’s total accrued paid sick leave to no more than 80 hours or 10 days.
- An up-front policy makes the full amount of sick leave for the year available immediately at the beginning of a year-long period, except for initial hires where three days or 24 hours must be available for use by the 120th calendar day of employment and five days or 40 hours available by the 200th day.
With the HWHFA changes now in effect, contractors must be sure to review and revise their paid sick leave policies and procedures to reflect the current updates. For more details and to view a full list of FAQs, visit https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/paid_sick_leave.htm.