Introduced by Senator Gonzalez
(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Wendy Carrillo)
(Coauthors: Senators Durazo, Laird, Wahab, and Wiener)
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Bryan and Haney)
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 616, as amended, Gonzalez. Sick days: paid sick days accrual and use: unpaid sick leave for railroad employees.
Existing law, the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, 2014 (act), establishes requirements relating to paid sick days and paid sick leave, as described. The act excludes specified employees from its provisions, including an employee covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement, as described (CBA employees).
This bill would exclude railroad carrier employers and their employees from the act’s provisions, and would instead require these railroad employers to allow their railroad employees to take at least 7 days of unpaid sick leave annually. The bill would apply specified provisions from the act relating to, among other things, eligibility for, accrual and use of, and prevention of retaliation for use of sick leave, but would make those provisions applicable to railroad employees for purposes of the unpaid sick leave requirement. The bill would provide that the unpaid sick leave provisions are severable.
Existing law, with certain exceptions, entitles an employee to paid sick days for certain purposes if the employee works in California for the same employer for 30 or more days within a year from the commencement of employment. Existing law imposes procedural requirements on employers regarding the use of paid sick days, including by prohibiting retaliation for using paid sick days, by prohibiting the imposition of certain conditions on the use of paid sick days, and by requiring the use of paid sick days for specified health care and situations. Existing law requires the leave to be accrued at a rate of no less than one hour for every 30 hours worked, and to be available for use beginning on the 90th day of employment.
This bill would extend the above-described procedural requirements on the use of paid sick days to CBA employees.
Existing law authorizes an employer to use a different accrual method as long as an employee has no less than 24 hours of accrued sick leave or paid time off by the 120th calendar day of employment or each calendar year, or in each 12-month period. Existing law also provides that an employer may satisfy the accrual requirements by providing not less than 24 hours or 3 days of paid sick leave that is available to the employee to use by the completion of the employee’s 120th calendar day of employment.
This bill would modify the employer’s alternate sick leave accrual method to instead require that an employee have no less than 56 hours of accrued sick leave or paid time off by the 280th calendar day of employment or each calendar year, or in each 12-month period. The bill would modify that satisfaction provision to authorize an employer to satisfy accrual requirements by providing not less than 56 hours or 7 days of paid sick leave that is available to the employee to use by the completion of the employee’s 280th calendar day of employment.
Existing law requires accrued paid sick days to carry over to the following year of employment. Existing law, however, authorizes an employer to limit an employee’s use of accrued paid sick days to 24 hours or 3 days in each year of employment, calendar year, or 12-month period. Under existing law, this provision is satisfied and no accrual or carryover is required if the full amount of leave is received at the beginning of each year of employment, calendar year, or 12-month period. Existing law defines “full amount of leave” for these purposes to mean 3 days or 24 hours.
This bill would raise the employer’s authorized limitation on the use of carryover sick leave to 56 hours or 7 days in each year of employment. The bill would redefine “full amount of leave” to mean 7 days or 56 hours.
Existing law also entitles individual providers of in-home supportive services and waiver personal care services, as defined, to paid sick days in specified amounts in accordance with minimum wage increases, up to a maximum of 24 hours or 3 days each year of employment when the minimum wage has reached $15 per hour. Existing law authorizes the State Department of Social Services to implement and interpret these provisions.
This bill would increase the sick leave accrual rate for these providers to 56 hours or 7 days in each year of employment, beginning January 1, 2024.
Under existing law, an employer is not required to provide additional paid sick days pursuant to these provisions if the employer has a paid leave or paid time off policy, makes an amount of leave available to employees that may be used for the same purposes and under the same conditions as these provisions, and the policy, among other conditions, results in an employee’s eligibility to earn at least 3 days or 24 hours of sick leave or paid time off within 9 months of employment.
This bill would raise that amount to 7 days or 56 hours of sick leave or paid time off.
Under existing law, an employer has no obligation under these provisions to allow an employee’s total accrual of paid sick leave to exceed 48 hours or 6 days, provided that an employee’s rights to accrue and use paid sick leave are not otherwise limited, as specified.
This bill would increase those accrual thresholds for paid sick leave to 112 hours or 14 days.
Existing paid sick days law sets forth provisions on, among other things, the definition of “full amount of leave” for a provider of in-home supportive services, as described, compensation for accrued, unused paid sick days upon specified employment events, the lending of paid sick days to employees, written notice requirements, the calculation of paid sick leave, reasonable advance notification requirements, and payment of sick leave taken.
This bill would provide that these provisions shall preempt any local ordinance to the contrary.
The bill would include findings that changes proposed by this bill address a matter of statewide concern rather than a municipal affair and, therefore, apply to all cities, including charter cities.
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