California Legislature Considers Statewide Paid Sick Leave Bill
Posted by Connor J. Moyle
San Francisco Assemblywoman Fiona Ma recently introduced a bill that, if passed, would make California the first state in the nation to force employers to provide sick leave benefits to their employees.
Under Assembly Bill 2716 (“AB 2716”) (which is modeled after the San Francisco Paid Sick Leave Ordinance that has been discussed in numerous entries on our blog), any employee who works in California for 7 or more days in a calendar year – even those not necessarily based in California – would be entitled to paid sick time. Employees would accrue sick leave at a rate of at least one hour for every thirty hours worked, and would be eligible to use accrued sick time beginning on their 90th calendar day of employment. Small business employers (defined as those with 10 or fewer employees during at least 20 calendar weeks of the current or preceding year) could limit an employee’s use of paid sick time to 40 hours or 5 days in each calendar year. All other employers would be allowed to cap usage at 72 hours or nine days per year.
AB 2716 also contains provisions prohibiting retaliation against employees for requesting and/or using paid sick leave. Much like the San Francisco law, the new bill imposes posting, notice, and recordkeeping requirements on employers. Note that under AB 2716, employees may use their paid sick time for the diagnosis, care or treatment of health conditions of the employee or an employee's family member, or for leave related to domestic violence or sexual assault. Unused sick leave may be carried over from year to year.
If passed, this bill would be extremely harmful to California employers, placing yet another burden on them that does not exist in the majority of other states, which is likely to help accelerate the exodus of California employers that have the ability to move to more business-friendly states. The timing of this bill is particularly puzzling as many California employers, particularly small employers, are struggling to survive in today's difficult economic market. Because this bill was only recently introduced, it is difficult to determine if it will pass through the Legislature, and whether its form and requirements will change along the way. Please contact us directly if you have any questions regarding AB 2716 and its potential impact on your business. We also urge you to make your lobbyists aware of this legislation so that your views can be heard.