The health family act of 2014 created by California governor, Jerry Brown requires all employers to provide sick leave to employees. The law was implemented from July 1 2015 and it made California to enter history books as the second state behind Connecticut to compel employers to provide this coverage to employees. However, unlike Connecticut where this law only applies to employers who have more than 50 employees, the California law applies to all employers regardless of the size of their workforce. In this article, we are going to break down this laws to help you understand exactly what it entails.

How has this law effected employers?

When this law came into effect in July 1 2015, all employers were required to offer a certain minimum amount of sick leave to their workers each year. This means that all employers in state of California must calculate the sick leave that each employee has accrued, report their balance and pay all their employees for the sick leave that they have taken within their minimum balance.

Who is eligible under this law?

All employees who have work for at least 30 days in year are eligible to receive sick leave under this law. This include both temporary and part time employees with only few exceptions.

How to determine the amount that an employee can take when on sick leave

When it comes to determining the amount an employee can take on sick leave, employers have two options. The first option is to offer lump sum to employees at the beginning of the year. Employer who choose this option must offer three days at the beginning of the year. The second option is known as the accrual method. Employers who choose this method are required to pay at least one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours that the employee has worked. Employers who choose this method have the flexibility to choose to start accruing sick leave from July 1, 2015 if the employees were hired before this law was implemented.

What happens if the employees don’t take sick leave?

Employees who have not taken sick leave can roll over the amount accrued to 48 hours of untaken sick leave. However, employers who provide lump sum at the beginning of the year are not required to roll over the remaining balance to the following year.

What are the reasons for taking sick leave?

Employees can take sick leave when their own health or the health condition of their family member is not well. They can also take sick leave when seeking preventative treatment.

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After the paid sick leave provision came into effect in 2015, employers are required to pay their employees when they take a sick leave. An organization’s paid leave policy may continue without alteration if they provide more or equal sick days and benefits under the same conditions to employees, as compared to law specifications.

The new law only concerns sick leave and doesn’t include leaves taken for other purposes. The law states that the rate of pay for sick leaves should be equal to the regular rate of pay. This can be determined by calculating the regular rate of the workweek in which the leave was taken or through taking a 90-day average.

It is not required to include overtime pay while deciding the rate of sick leave pay and employers can also use their own paid sick leave policies as long as it adheres to the laws.
About The Laws

According to the paid sick leave laws, an employee can take paid sick leave for certain purposes. If the employee has accumulated sick leaves which are available, then the employer is not permitted to deny the leave application.

According to the statute, the employer cannot discriminate an employee in any manner or take action against the employee for:

1. Applying for and/or using the accrued sick leaves

2. Alleging or filing a complaint about the article’s violation

3. Being cooperative towards investigation and prosecution for alleged violation or opposition of any practice, policy or act that is prohibited in the article.

Other Provisions
Additionally, section 233 of the Labor Code states that the employer must allow usage of sick leaves which have accumulated in the last 6 months for purposes given under the law concerning paid sick leaves.

As per the section 234 of Labor Code, any employer policy which takes sick leaves pursuing Section 233 into consideration, for controlling absences and/or to discipline employees in any way can result in legal actions for violating Section 233. However, if an employee has utilized all their sick leaves or if they take a sick leave for a different purpose than the ones mentioned, the employer is eligible to take disciplinary action.

The statute allows employees to take sick leaves if:

1. The employee or their family member requires to be diagnosed, cared for, treated for any existing health condition or needs preventive care.

2. The employee is a victim of either sexual assault, stalking or domestic violence then they may take leave for any of the purposes given in Section 230 subdivision (c) and Section 230.1 subdivision (a).

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