Monday, Dec 29, 2014

The effective date for employers to begin providing mandatory sick leave to all employees is July 1, 2015, or on the first day of employment for new employees – whichever is later.

CDA Practice Support is still monitoring developments and interpretations of the California Paid Sick Leave Law (AB 1522). The most notable information of late is that employers must comply with displaying the required poster for employees by Jan. 1, 2015. Dentists can find the poster here.

In addition:

• The law applies to all employers, regardless of staff size.
• All exempt and nonexempt part-time, full-time and temporary employees who have worked in California for 30 or more days are eligible. 
• Part-time and temporary employees who work more than 30 days per year are eligible.
• The employer can limit an employee from accruing or using the leave for the first 90 days of employment.
• The employer can limit employees to using no more than three days a year (24 hours).
• An employer who chooses to provide leave on an accrual basis, no less than one hour for every 30 hours worked, can limit the amount of paid sick leave to 24 hours/three days each year and can cap the total accrual banked by an employee to 48 hours/six days. Keep in mind that both regular and overtime hours are counted toward the employees accrual rate.
• If the employer already has a policy in place that provides for paid sick leave equal to or greater than the state requirement, there is no requirement to provide additional paid sick days. CDA recommends adding additional language to a practice’s employee manual that indicates that the policy adheres to the state requirements.
• The employer must provide the employee with a written notice indicating the amount of sick time available to the employee at each pay period. Records of an employee’s hours should be kept for a minimum of three years.
• If an employee should leave the practice, sick leave does not need to be paid out unless the employer’s policy combines the sick leave and vacation into a paid time off (PTO) policy.
• Noncompliance can result in fines and state penalties.

The labor commissioner has also released a new Wage and Employment Notice 2810.5 (required since 2012) containing the information related to the right to accrue and use paid sick leave.  The notice can be found here.

CDA reminds dentists in San Francisco that they must comply with both the new state law regarding employee sick leave as well as the local sick leave ordinance, (at least in those areas where it is more generous).

Accrual for San Francisco employees is one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. For employers with fewer than 10 employees, there is a cap of 40 hours of accrued paid sick leave per employee. For employees of other employers, there is a cap of 72 hours of accrued sick leave. More information is available at the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement website, sfgsa.org. Other local ordinances could be adopted with stricter requirements, in which case employers would have to comply with the strictest requirement, whether that is state or local law.

As additional information becomes available, CDA will continue to provide updated information in the Update and on cda.org.

For more information, contact CDA Practice Support at 800.232.7645.