California Time Off Laws: Sick Leave, PTO, SDI, and PFL

California time off laws give workers some of the broadest leave protections in the country, covering paid sick days, job-protected family and medical leave, pregnancy disability, bereavement, reproductive loss, crime victim recovery, organ donation, school activities, jury duty, and voting. Most of these rules apply to employers with five or more employees, and several apply regardless of company size. What follows is a plain-English guide to each one: who qualifies, how much time you get, and whether the hours are paid.

Paid Sick Leave

Every California employer must provide at least 40 hours (five days) of paid sick leave per year under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act. The floor was raised from 24 hours in 2024, and it applies to all employees, including part-time and temporary workers.¹

Employers can deliver the leave two ways. The accrual method gives at least one hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked, starting on the first day of employment. The front-loading method grants the full 40 hours at the beginning of each benefit year and skips the tracking.¹

If you accrue your hours, you can begin using them on your 90th day of employment. Unused hours carry into the next year, but employers may cap total accrual at 80 hours (ten days) and may limit annual usage to 40 hours (five days). You can bank more than you can use in any single year, which builds a reserve for a longer illness later.¹

Accrued sick leave can also be used to care for a family member, not just yourself. An employer cannot discipline you for using sick time that way.²

Vacation and PTO Accrual Rules

California does not require employers to offer vacation or general paid time off. But once an employer offers it, the state treats earned vacation as a form of wages. That classification drives every rule in this area and catches many employers off guard.

Because vacation is wages, “use it or lose it” policies are illegal. An employer cannot force you to forfeit hours you have already earned at the end of a year. What employers can do is set a reasonable accrual cap. Once you hit that ceiling, you stop accumulating additional hours until you take some time off and drop below the cap. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement treats a cap as a temporary pause on accrual, while forfeiture destroys vested compensation; only the cap is lawful.³

When employment ends for any reason, the employer must pay out all unused, earned vacation at your final rate of pay. This applies whether you quit, were laid off, or were fired. Standalone sick leave does not require a payout at separation, but if the employer bundles sick time and vacation into a single PTO bank, the whole balance is treated as vested wages and must be paid out.⁴

Family and Medical Leave

The California Family Rights Act gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave in a 12-month period. It applies to any private employer with five or more workers and to all public employers. To qualify, you must have at least 12 months of total service with the employer and at least 1,250 hours worked during the 12 months immediately before the leave begins.⁵

Qualifying reasons for CFRA leave include:

Bonding with a new child after birth, adoption, or foster care placement.
Caring for a family member with a serious health condition. Covered family members include a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or one designated person identified by the employee.
Your own serious health condition that prevents you from performing your job. Pregnancy-related disability is handled under a separate law described below.
A qualifying need related to a family member’s covered active duty or call to active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces.

The “designated person” category is worth knowing about. You can name anyone whose relationship is equivalent to a family bond, such as a close friend or chosen family member.⁵

CFRA leave is unpaid, but it comes with two critical protections. The employer must return you to the same or a comparable position with equivalent pay and benefits when the leave ends. And the employer must continue group health insurance coverage during the leave on the same terms as if you were still working. You may also use accrued vacation, PTO, or sick leave to stay paid during part or all of the absence.⁵

Pregnancy Disability Leave

Separate from CFRA, California provides up to four months of job-protected leave for any employee disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. There is no minimum tenure or hours-worked requirement, so even a brand-new employee qualifies from day one. The law applies to employers with five or more workers.⁶

For a full-time employee working 40 hours a week, four months translates to roughly 17⅓ weeks or 693 hours. The leave covers the actual period of disability, which a healthcare provider certifies. A normal pregnancy without complications typically qualifies for about four weeks before delivery and six weeks after, though complications can extend the certified period.⁷

While you are on pregnancy disability leave, the employer must maintain and pay for group health insurance coverage at the same level you received while working. You can also use accrued vacation during the leave. And because pregnancy disability leave and CFRA leave are separate entitlements, a new parent can take up to four months of pregnancy disability leave and then take an additional 12 weeks of CFRA bonding leave afterward.⁶

Getting Paid During Leave: SDI and PFL

CFRA and pregnancy disability leave protect your job but do not require your employer to pay you. Two state-run insurance programs administered by the Employment Development Department fill that gap: State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave. Nearly all California employees fund these programs through payroll deductions, so there is no cost to the employer.

Paid Family Leave provides up to eight weeks of partial wage replacement within a 12-month period for employees who take time off to bond with a new child or care for a seriously ill family member. The weekly benefit ranges from about 70% to 90% of your recent wages depending on income, with a minimum of $50 and a maximum of $1,765 per week.⁸ Lower-wage workers receive the higher replacement rate. PFL does not provide job protection on its own; that comes from CFRA or another leave law.

State Disability Insurance covers employees who cannot work due to a non-work-related illness, injury, or pregnancy. The benefit calculation uses the same formula as PFL. For a typical pregnancy, SDI pays benefits for about four weeks before the due date and six weeks after delivery, with longer periods available when a healthcare provider certifies complications.⁷ Employees can then transition to PFL benefits for bonding time, creating a continuous income stream through the combined leave period.⁹

Bereavement Leave

Employers with five or more workers must grant up to five days of bereavement leave following the death of a family member. You must have worked for the employer for at least 30 days before taking leave. Qualifying family members include a spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, or parent-in-law.¹⁰

The five days do not need to be consecutive but must be completed within three months of the date of death. Whether the time is paid depends on the employer’s existing bereavement policy. If the employer has no policy, or if the policy provides fewer than five days, you still get the full five days but may need to use accrued sick leave, vacation, or PTO for any unpaid portion.¹⁰

The employer may request documentation within 30 days of the first day of leave. Acceptable forms include a death certificate, a published obituary, or written verification from a funeral home, religious institution, or government agency. Retaliation against an employee who requests or takes bereavement leave is prohibited.

Reproductive Loss Leave

Since January 1, 2024, employers with five or more workers must provide up to five days of leave following a reproductive loss event. Covered events include a miscarriage, stillbirth, failed adoption, failed surrogacy, or an unsuccessful assisted reproduction procedure such as IVF. The leave is available to anyone who would have been a parent of the child, including the employee’s spouse or domestic partner.¹¹

You must have worked for the employer for at least 30 days before requesting leave. The five days do not need to be consecutive but must be completed within three months of the event. If you experience more than one loss in a 12-month period, each event triggers a separate five-day entitlement, up to a maximum of 20 days total per year.¹¹

Like bereavement leave, reproductive loss leave is unpaid unless you choose to use accrued sick time, vacation, or PTO. The law prohibits retaliation and requires employers to keep the reason for the leave confidential.

Crime Victim and Safety Leave

Effective January 1, 2025, AB 2499 expanded protections for employees who are victims of violence. The law moved these rights into the Fair Employment and Housing Act framework under Government Code section 12945.8, which means violations are now handled as unlawful employment practices by the Civil Rights Department.¹²

Covered employees can take time off to seek medical care for injuries, obtain services from a domestic violence shelter or rape crisis center, get psychological counseling, participate in safety planning (including relocation), or obtain a restraining order. These protections apply whether you are the direct victim or you are helping a family member who is a victim.

A “qualifying act of violence” includes domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or any conduct involving bodily injury, use of a firearm or dangerous weapon, or threats of force against another person. No arrest or criminal conviction is required for the protections to apply.¹²

Notify your employer before taking leave when possible. If advance notice is not feasible, you cannot be disciplined as long as you provide documentation within a reasonable time. Acceptable documentation includes a police report, court order, medical provider statement, or a signed written statement from the employee.

Organ and Bone Marrow Donor Leave

California is one of the few states that requires paid leave for organ and bone marrow donation. Organ donors receive up to 30 paid business days per year, plus an additional 30 unpaid business days if needed. Bone marrow donors receive up to five paid business days per year.¹³

You must provide written verification of donor status and medical necessity. During the paid leave, the employer must maintain group health insurance coverage on the same terms as if you were actively working. The leave does not count as a break in service for purposes of seniority, salary adjustments, or benefit accrual.¹³

One wrinkle: an employer can require you to use up to two weeks of existing sick leave, vacation, or PTO before the employer-funded organ donor leave kicks in, and up to five days before bone marrow donor leave begins. Donor leave also cannot run at the same time as CFRA or federal FMLA leave, so the protections stack rather than overlap.¹³

School Activities Leave

Employers with 25 or more workers at the same location must allow parents up to 40 hours per year to participate in school-related activities for a child in kindergarten through grade 12 or in licensed child care. No more than eight hours can be used in any single calendar month for planned absences. Reasonable advance notice is required.¹⁴

The 40-hour allotment covers planned activities such as enrollment, parent-teacher conferences, and school events, along with emergencies like an unexpected school closure, a natural disaster, or a behavioral issue requiring a parent to pick up the child. Emergency absences require notice to the employer but not advance notice.¹⁴

“Parent” is defined broadly to include guardians, stepparents, foster parents, grandparents, and anyone standing in a parental role. The leave is unpaid, but employees may substitute accrued vacation or PTO.

Jury Duty and Witness Leave

California prohibits employers from firing or retaliating against any employee who takes time off for jury service or who appears in court under a valid subpoena. You must give reasonable notice after receiving a summons. This protection applies to every employer regardless of size.¹⁵

Jury duty leave is generally unpaid unless the employer’s own policy or a collective bargaining agreement provides for pay. Retaliation complaints must be filed within one year of the adverse action. An employee who is discharged or demoted for serving on a jury has grounds for a retaliation claim with the Labor Commissioner’s office.

Voting Leave

If you do not have enough time outside of working hours to vote in a statewide election, you can take up to two hours of paid time off. The time must be taken at the beginning or end of the shift, whichever gives you the most free time to vote and causes the least disruption, unless you and your employer agree to a different arrangement.¹⁶

If you know by the third working day before the election that you will need time off, you must give the employer at least two working days’ notice. Employers are required to post a notice about voting leave rights in the workplace at least ten days before every statewide election. The Secretary of State provides the official notice for employers to display where employees will see it as they enter or exit the workplace.¹⁷

1
California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 246
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California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 233
3
Division of Labor Standards Enforcement. Vacation
4
California Legislative Information. California Code, Labor Code LAB 227.3
5
California Legislative Information. California Code Government Code 12945.2
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California Legislative Information. California Code Government Code 12945
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Employment Development Department. Disability Insurance – Pregnancy FAQs
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Employment Development Department. Paid Family Leave Benefit Payment Amounts
9
Employment Development Department. Paid Family Leave
10
California Legislative Information. California Code Government Code 12945.7
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California Legislative Information. California Code Government Code 12945.6
12
California Legislative Information. AB 2499
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California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 1510
14
California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 230.8
15
California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 230
16
California Legislative Information. California Code Elections Code 14000
17
California Secretary of State. Time off to Vote Notices