Despite the way the question sometimes gets phrased online, AB 109 has nothing to do with sick leave. It is a criminal justice realignment statute. The California paid sick leave law you are actually looking for is the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act, found at Labor Code sections 245 through 249.1California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 245 – Paid Sick Days It started as AB 1522 in 2014, expanded under SB 616 on January 1, 2024, and expanded again under AB 2499 on January 1, 2025. Under the current version, most workers in California earn at least 40 hours (five days) of paid sick leave a year, with real protection against retaliation for using them.
Who Qualifies
You are covered if you work for the same employer for at least 30 days within a year in California. Full-time, part-time, temporary, and seasonal workers all qualify. Your right to accrue hours begins on day one, but you cannot actually use any accrued hours until you have been employed for 90 days.2California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 246 – Paid Sick Days
A limited group of workers is excluded under Labor Code section 245.5. The main exclusions are employees under a collective bargaining agreement that already provides paid sick leave and pays at least 30 percent above state minimum wage, construction workers under qualifying CBAs, airline flight crew covered by the federal Railway Labor Act with equivalent time off, certain retired public employees, and certain railroad employees.3California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 245.5 – Paid Sick Days
How You Earn Sick Leave
Under the standard accrual method, you earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, starting your first day. Exempt salaried workers (administrative, executive, professional) are treated as working 40 hours a week for accrual unless their normal schedule is shorter.2California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 246 – Paid Sick Days
Your employer can skip the hour-by-hour math and front-load the full 40 hours (or five days) at the start of each year or benefit period instead. If your employer uses a different accrual method, you must have at least 24 hours by your 120th calendar day of employment and at least 40 hours by your 200th day.
Annual Use and Carryover Caps
Your employer can cap your annual use at 40 hours or five days no matter how much you have accrued.4Labor Commissioner’s Office. California Paid Sick Leave: Frequently Asked Questions Under the accrual method, unused hours roll over year to year, but total accumulation can be capped at 80 hours or 10 days. The carryover cap does not apply when your employer front-loads the full annual amount, because the yearly grant replaces the need to bank hours.
Cities With Stronger Rules
Some California cities require more than the state minimum, and where a local rule is more generous, your employer must follow it. Los Angeles caps accrual at 72 hours and allows annual use of up to 48 hours. San Francisco and Oakland require employers with 10 or more employees to allow accrual up to 72 hours with no annual use cap. Berkeley, Emeryville, and Santa Monica have similar rules that scale with employer size. State law does preempt local rules in specific areas, such as how sick pay is calculated and when it must be paid.
What You Can Use It For
You can use paid sick leave for your own diagnosis, treatment, or preventive care, or to care for a covered family member for the same reasons.5California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 246.5 – Paid Sick Days The statute defines family member broadly:
- A child of any age, including biological, adopted, foster, stepchild, legal ward, or a child you stand in place of a parent for
- A parent, including biological, adoptive, foster, stepparent, legal guardian, or someone who stood in place of a parent when you were a minor
- A spouse or registered domestic partner
- A grandparent, grandchild, or sibling
- One designated person of your choosing per 12-month period, identified when you request the leave
The designated person category was added by SB 616 and is meaningful in practice: it lets you use sick leave for a close friend, an unmarried partner, or anyone else who does not fit a traditional family label.3California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 245.5 – Paid Sick Days
Leave Related to Violence
Effective January 1, 2025, AB 2499 broadened protections for victims of violence by creating the concept of a “qualifying act of violence,” which now covers any act involving a dangerous weapon or resulting in physical injury, in addition to domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.6California Legislative Information. Assembly Bill 2499 You can use paid sick leave to get a restraining order, seek medical care, access counseling or victim services, safety plan, relocate, or attend legal proceedings. The protections extend to helping a qualifying family member who is a victim, including with medical care, legal proceedings, childcare, or relocation. Employers with 25 or more employees carry the broadest obligations here.
How to Request It
You can ask verbally or in writing. Give reasonable advance notice for foreseeable needs like a scheduled procedure or a checkup, and notify your employer as soon as practicable when the need is sudden.5California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 246.5 – Paid Sick Days
Two rules matter more than most workers realize. Your employer cannot require you to find a replacement worker as a condition of taking sick leave. And you do not need a doctor’s note. The Labor Commissioner has stated that an employer cannot deny paid sick leave based solely on the lack of medical certification, no matter how many days you take.7Department of Industrial Relations. California Paid Sick Leave: Frequently Asked Questions A lot of employee handbooks imply the opposite.
Your employer also cannot ask why you are using the leave. The statute bars inquiries into the purpose of your sick leave.8California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 247.5 – Paid Sick Days You decide how many hours to use each time you call out. Your employer can set a minimum increment, but that minimum cannot exceed two hours.
Checking Your Balance
Your available sick leave balance must appear either on your itemized wage statement or on a separate written document given to you each payday. Look at that number before requesting time off so you know what you have.
How Sick Leave Pay Is Calculated
For hourly (nonexempt) employees, your employer picks one of two methods. The first uses the regular rate of pay formula for the workweek you took the leave, even if you did not work overtime that week. The second divides your total wages, excluding overtime premiums, by total hours worked over the prior 90 days. Both methods are legal, so your rate on a sick day may not exactly match your usual hourly rate.
For salaried (exempt) employees, sick pay is calculated the same way your employer calculates other paid time off. Payment must appear no later than the payday for the next regular payroll period after you use the leave.
Retaliation Protections
Your employer cannot fire, demote, threaten, suspend, or otherwise punish you for using accrued sick leave, trying to use it, filing a complaint about a violation, or cooperating with an investigation.5California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 246.5 – Paid Sick Days
The law also builds in a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation if your employer takes any adverse action against you within 30 days of filing a complaint, cooperating with an investigation, or opposing a policy that violates the sick leave law. If you get written up or terminated shortly after using sick leave or complaining about a denial, the burden shifts to your employer to prove the action was unrelated.
What Happens When You Leave the Job
California does not require employers to pay out unused sick leave at separation. Unlike vacation pay, which must be cashed out, your sick leave balance simply goes to zero, unless your employer’s own policy says otherwise.7Department of Industrial Relations. California Paid Sick Leave: Frequently Asked Questions
If the same employer rehires you within 12 months, your previously accrued and unused sick leave must be restored, so long as it was not paid out through a PTO policy when you left. Some employers try to reset returning workers to zero as “new hires.” That violates the law.
If Your Employer Breaks the Law
When an employer unlawfully withholds paid sick days, the penalty is three times the value of the withheld leave or $250, whichever is greater, capped at $4,000. When the violation causes other harm, such as termination, the penalty is $50 per day the violation continues, also capped at $4,000.9California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 248.5 – Paid Sick Days
You can file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner’s Office, which can order reinstatement, back pay, and administrative penalties. The Labor Commissioner or the Attorney General can also file a civil action on behalf of affected workers, with the employer liable for attorney’s fees and costs. One recordkeeping detail helps you here: employers must keep sick leave records for three years, and if the records are inadequate, the law presumes you are entitled to the maximum leave unless the employer can prove otherwise with clear and convincing evidence.