On October 4, 2023, Governor Newsom signed SB 616, which expands paid sick leave entitlements for California employees effective January 1, 2024 by amending California Labor Code sections 245.5, 246, and 246.5.

Once the new law goes into effect, California employers will generally have the following three options to choose from for paid sick leave compliance purposes: 

• As before, the employee can accrue 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked; or
• The employee can receive an upfront grant of 40 hours or 5 days of paid sick leave at the beginning of employment and each 12 month period thereafter (“front-loading”) (no carryover or accrual of sick leave is required); or
• As before, the employee can accrue sick leave at a rate other than 1 hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked, provided the accrual is regular and results in the accrual of no less than 24 hours or 3 days of sick leave by the 120^th day of employment and no less than 40 hours or 5 days of sick leave by the 200^th day of employment. 

When sick leave is accrued (i.e., it is not being frontloaded), SB 616 will allow employers to impose a maximum accrual cap of 80 hours or 10 days and a use limit of 40 hours or 5 days per 12-month period. Under existing law, the allowable maximum accrual cap is 48 hours or 6 days and the allowable use limit is 24 hours or 3 days per 12 month period. 

SB 616 also changes the sick leave requirement for providers of in-home supportive services and individual providers of waiver personal care services effective January 1, 2024, to permit an upfront grant of 40 hours or 5 days of sick leave, with no accrual or carryover, at the beginning of employment and each 12-month period thereafter. 

As most California employers will be impacted by SB 616, please do not hesitate to contact the author of this blog post or your usual AALRR attorney in order to update your paid sick leave policy or with any questions.