City of Los Angeles Sick Leave: Accrual, Use, and Notice Rules

Under the Los Angeles sick leave law, most workers in the city earn at least 48 hours — six days — of paid sick leave per year. The rule is set by Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 187.04, and it covers anyone who works at least two hours in a given week inside city limits, whether full-time, part-time, temporary, or seasonal.¹ LA’s minimums are higher than California’s statewide floor, and where the two overlap, the more generous rule applies to you.

Who Qualifies

Coverage depends on where you work, not where your employer is based. If you perform at least two hours of work within the geographic boundaries of the City of Los Angeles in a given week, the ordinance applies.² Remote employees and delivery drivers passing through the city can qualify if they hit that threshold.

Two waiting periods matter. You must work for the same employer for at least 30 days within a year of your start date to be entitled to sick leave at all. And although hours start accruing on your first day, you cannot actually use any of them until your 90th day on the job.¹ New hires who get sick in their first few months often assume they can dip into a growing balance, and that 90-day gate catches them out.

How You Get the Hours

Your employer picks one of two methods. Under accrual, you earn one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.² Unused hours carry over year to year, but your employer can cap the total balance at 72 hours. Some employers set a higher cap or no cap at all. Even with a large balance, you can only use up to 48 hours in any single year.¹

Under front-loading, your employer grants at least 48 hours at the start of each year of employment, calendar year, or other 12-month period.² If your employer already offers a paid time off or vacation policy of at least 48 hours that can be used for sick-leave purposes, no separate sick bank is required.¹ Check whether the PTO policy actually permits use for all the reasons the ordinance covers before you assume you’re set.

What You Can Use It For

The ordinance covers your own medical needs and a family member’s. That includes treatment of an existing condition, preventive care such as an annual physical or dental cleaning, and mental health appointments.¹

“Family member” is defined broadly: children, parents, spouses, registered domestic partners, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings, plus anyone related by blood or close personal connection whose relationship is the equivalent of a family bond.³ The last category is deliberately flexible — a long-term partner you haven’t formally registered with, or an elderly neighbor you care for, can qualify depending on the relationship.

Safe Time for Survivors of Violence

You can also use accrued hours for reasons tied to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking: seeking legal help, relocating for safety, obtaining a restraining order, or attending counseling.

How Your Sick Pay Is Calculated

California law governs the pay rate, so it works the same way across the city. For non-exempt workers, there are two options. The first divides your total non-overtime wages for the workweek you took leave by the non-overtime hours you worked that week. The second divides your total wages (excluding the overtime premium) over the prior 90 days by the total hours you worked in that period.⁴ Either method should give you roughly the hourly rate you would have earned by showing up. Exempt salaried employees are paid at their normal rate.

Notice and Documentation

For scheduled appointments, give reasonable advance notice. For an unexpected illness or emergency, notify your employer as soon as you reasonably can. The request can be oral or in writing.²

Your employer may require “reasonable documentation” for absences taken as sick leave.¹ The ordinance does not define exactly what counts as reasonable or set a minimum number of days before a note can be requested. Many LA employers follow an informal practice of asking only after three or more consecutive days out, but the law itself leaves the word open. Demanding extensive medical proof for a single sick day can be challenged as unreasonable.

If You Leave or Get Rehired

Your employer is not required to pay out unused sick leave when you quit, get fired, or retire.¹ That differs from vacation, which California generally requires to be cashed out at separation. Unused sick hours just disappear.

One exception matters if you might return: if the same employer rehires you within one year of your separation date, all your previously accrued, unused sick time must be reinstated.¹ Seasonal workers and people who cycle in and out of the same company should keep that in mind. If you had 30 hours banked when you left and come back eight months later, those hours should be waiting.

How LA and California Rules Fit Together

California’s statewide law requires at least 40 hours (five days) per year, with an accrual cap of 80 hours. Los Angeles sets higher minimums for use (48 hours) and a lower accrual cap (72 hours). Where the rules conflict, your employer must follow whichever is more generous to you.⁵

As of January 1, 2024, state law does override local rules on a limited set of administrative topics: paystub statements, how sick pay is calculated, notice for foreseeable leave, timing of payment, lending of sick leave, and whether payout is required at termination.⁵ On those points, the state rule controls. The core LA entitlements — 48 usable hours, the 72-hour cap, the broad family definition, safe time — are unchanged.

Retaliation Is Prohibited

Your employer cannot fire you, cut your pay, reduce your hours, or otherwise punish you for requesting or using paid sick leave, reporting a violation, or cooperating with an investigation.⁶

An employer found to have retaliated faces administrative fines of up to $1,000 per affected employee. In a civil action, a worker who proves retaliation can receive reinstatement plus treble damages — three times the penalty amounts that would otherwise apply.⁷ If your schedule is suddenly changed, your hours cut, or you’re written up shortly after you use sick leave, document everything. Timing alone doesn’t prove retaliation, but it’s the most common starting point for a successful claim.

How to File a Complaint

If your employer denies sick leave, refuses to pay for time you used, or retaliates against you, you can file with the City of Los Angeles Office of Wage Standards. The office accepts complaints through its online short-form portal or via a longer intake form submitted by email or mail, and you can authorize a third-party representative to file on your behalf.⁷ Immigration status does not affect your right to file, and the office will not ask about it.

Remedies include payment of any sick time unlawfully withheld, plus a penalty of up to $120 per day to the employee and up to $50 per day to the city for each day the violation continued.⁷ Those daily penalties add up quickly, and can easily exceed the original amount owed on even a week of denied leave. You can also file your own civil lawsuit in court instead of going through the administrative process. Before you file, gather your pay stubs, any written sick leave requests, and the dates the problem occurred. Employers are required to keep payroll records for four years,⁸ and if theirs are missing during a dispute, the gap tends to work against them.

1
Los Angeles Municipal Code. Los Angeles Municipal Code SEC. 187.04 Sick Time Benefits
2
City of Los Angeles Bureau of Contract Administration. Los Angeles Minimum Wage Ordinance Poster
3
American Legal Publishing Corporation. Los Angeles Municipal Code 187.01 – Definitions
4
LegiScan. Bill Text: CA SB616 – Regular Session – Amended
5
Department of Industrial Relations. California Paid Sick Leave: Frequently Asked Questions
6
American Legal Publishing Corporation. Los Angeles Municipal Code SEC. 187.06 Retaliatory Action Prohibited
7
Wages LA. Office of Wage Standards – City of Los Angeles
8
City of Los Angeles. Minimum Wage Ordinance Frequently Asked Questions