California
California Increases Paid Sick Leave in 2024: Compliance Reminder;
California was on the cutting edge of employee sick leave benefits when it rolled out Paid Sick Leave in 2015, but the 24 hours provided soon looked meager compared to the amounts offered by other states and localities. Now, eight years in, the state has increased the three-day benefit to a five-day benefit. Beginning January 1, 2024, employees must be able to use up to 40 hours or five days per year of paid sick leave.
Accrual Methods
The standard accrual rate of 1 hour per 30 hours worked remains the same. Employers that use some other method of accrual must allow employees to earn at least 24 hours by their 120th day of employment, or in each calendar year or other 12-month period (same as before), and all 40 hours by their 200th day of employment, or in each calendar year or other 12-month period. (Note that 24 hours in 120 days and 40 hours in 200 days will be earned at the same rate.)
Lump Sum Methods
Employers that provide leave in a lump sum need to provide at least 24 hours or three days of sick leave to use no later than after an employee’s 120th day of employment (same as before) and all 40 hours or five days after their 200th day. This seems to open the door to providing 24 hours or three days of sick leave when the employee has completed their 120th day while withholding the remaining 16 hours or two days until the employee has completed their 200th day.
Of course, employers are still free to provide the full amount of leave up front and don’t need to provide it in two installments. They can also allow employees to use sick leave before completing 120 days of employment.
You still don’t have to allow carryover if providing the full amount of leave (i.e., 40 hours or five days) at the beginning of each year using the lump sum method. However, the law doesn’t allow you to avoid carryover if you decide to divvy up an employee’s lump sum leave allotment into 24 and then 16 hours (or any other combination that did not provide the full amount of leave at the start of the year).
Use Caps and Carryover
The yearly use cap (effective January 1, 2024) will be 40 hours or five days instead of 24 hours or three days. The total (rolling) accrual cap will be 80 hours or 10 days instead of 48 hours or six days.
Preemption of Local Sick Leave Rules
The amended law includes preemption of certain provisions in local sick leave ordinances. This means that localities will need to follow the state law exactly on those particular issues—they will not be allowed to write (or enforce) more restrictive or more employee-friendly rules. Preemption applies to the following provisions:
- End of employment payout of employees’ unused sick leave
- Employer advancement of (unaccrued) sick days to employees
- Employer written notice requirement regarding available leave
- Rate of pay calculations for employees’ actual sick leave taken
- Employee notification for foreseeable and unforeseeable use of sick leave
- Timing of payment to employees for paid sick leave used
Thankfully, localities with their own sick leave laws have so far been almost totally aligned—or at least not in conflict—with the state on these topics. Employers in these locations shouldn’t have to overhaul their sick leave policies aside from ensuring that they offer as many hours as now required by the state. Localities are not barred from writing and enforcing more employee-friendly sick leave rules on matters not in this list, such as total number of hours accrued or acceptable reasons to use leave.
Action Items:
- Update your sick leave policies to comply with the increase in hours
- If you use bundled policies (e.g., paid time off or flexible time off that includes both sick and vacation time), ensure that those are also at least as generous as the updated sick leave requirements
- Distribute updated policies to employees by January 1, 2024
- Keep an eye out for an updated Paid Sick Leave poster from the California Department of Industrial Relations
California Employment Law Updates for January 1: Compliance Reminder;
The following employment laws take effect January 1, 2024.
Cannabis Protections in Employment;
Employers with five or more employees will be prohibited from discriminating against an applicant or employee for using cannabis off-duty and away from the workplace. This includes discriminating based on a drug test that finds non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites in their system. Non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites are what’s stored in the body after THC (which causes the “high”) is metabolized. Their presence means that cannabis was consumed but doesn’t indicate that a person is currently impaired.
Additionally, employers can’t ask about an applicant’s prior use of cannabis or consider information about an applicant’s or employee’s prior cannabis use. This includes making decisions based on information revealed in their criminal history, unless doing so is allowed by state or federal law.
Employers can still make employment decisions based on drug tests that don’t screen for non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites. Employers can also continue to take steps to ensure a drug free workplace, such as prohibiting employees from having or using cannabis at work or being impaired on the job.
The law contains certain exceptions, including but not limited to, employees in building and construction, and positions for which drug testing is governed by federal or state law, a federal contract, or as a condition of receiving federal funds or licensing.
Action Items:
- Review your drug screening policies to make sure they’re in compliance.
- Update any equal employment opportunity policies to include off-duty and off-premises use of cannabis.
- Ensure managers and those involved in the hiring process know that they can’t ask about or consider an applicant’s off-duty cannabis use.
Reproductive Loss Leave;
Employers with five or more employees will be required to provide employees who have been employed for at least 30 days with up to five days of leave when they experience a reproductive loss.
A reproductive loss includes a failed adoption, failed surrogacy, miscarriage, stillbirth, or an unsuccessful assisted reproduction. Reproductive loss leave can be taken by any employee who would have been the parent.
Generally, the leave must be completed within three months of the loss and days can be taken intermittently. The leave can be unpaid unless the employer has an existing paid leave policy that would apply. If unpaid, employees can choose to use any available paid leave, including accrued sick leave. Reproductive loss leave is in addition to all other state leave rights and does not run concurrently with CFRA or PDL. For employees who experience multiple losses, employers can cap leave at 20 days in a 12-month period.
Action Item:
- Add a reproductive loss leave policy to your employee handbook or other policy documents.
New Notice Requirement for New Hires;
All employers need to provide new employees with notice about any federal or state emergency or disaster declaration that applies to any county where the employee will perform work and that may affect their health and safety on the job, if the declaration was issued in the 30 days prior to their start date. Employees generally excluded from having to receive this notice include those employed by the state (or any subdivision such as city or county), those covered by a collective bargaining agreement, and those exempt from overtime. The Department of Industrial Relations has already updated its NOTICE TO EMPLOYEE template.
Sick Leave Reminder;
40 is the new 24. While the accrual rate has remained unchanged (1 hour per 30 hours worked) employers must increase the amount of sick leave their employees can use each year from 24 hours or three days to 40 hours or five days. The total (rolling) accrual cap is now 80 hours or 10 days (instead of 48 hours or six days).
Minimum Wages and Salaries;
Statewide Minimum Wage
California’s minimum wage for all employers, regardless of size, will increase to $16 per hour.
Exempt Employee Minimum Salaries and Wages
The minimum salary threshold for exempt employees will increase to $1,280 per week ($66,560 per year) for employers regardless of their employee count.
The minimum hourly rate for exempt computer software employees will increase to $55.58 per hour (or an annual salary of $115,763.35).
The minimum rate for exempt licensed physicians and surgeons paid on an hourly basis will increase to $101.22 per hour.
Local Minimum Wages
The hourly minimum wage will also increase in the following cities:
Belmont: $17.35
Burlingame: $17.03
Cupertino: $17.75
Daly City: $16.62
East Palo Alto: $17
El Cerrito: $17.92
Foster City: $17
Half Moon Bay: $17.01
Hayward (25 or fewer employees): $16 (state rate)
Hayward (26 or more employees): $16.90
Los Altos: $17.75
Menlo Park: $16.70
Mountain View: $18.75
Novato (25 or fewer employees): $16.04
Novato (26–99 employees): $16.60
Novato (100 or more employees): $16.86
Oakland: $16.50
Oakland (hotels with health benefits): $17.94
Oakland (hotels without health benefits): $23.91
Palo Alto: $17.80
Petaluma: $17.45
Redwood City: $17.70
Richmond (with benefits): $16 (state rate)
Richmond (without benefits): $17.20
San Carlos: $16.87
San Diego: $16.85
San José: $17.55
San Mateo City: $17.35
San Mateo County (unincorporated areas only): $17.06
Santa Clara: $17.75
Santa Rosa: $17.45
Sonoma City (25 or fewer employees): $16.56
Sonoma City (26 or more employees): $17.60
South San Francisco: $17.25
Sunnyvale: $18.55
