Governor Jerry Brown on September 10, 2014 signed into law Assembly Bill 1522 which will provide workers in California guaranteed sick days. Covered employees will get one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. It does not matter the size of the employer.
California becomes the second state, after Connecticut, to require paid sick days.
This will be a relatively small benefit, allowing the employer to provide just three days, or 24 hours, of paid sick leave per year. An employer can of course choose to provide more such pay. It is common, for example, for union contracts to provide additional sick pay for union workers.
This sick leave will cover an employee’s sick days or for care for an employee’s sick family member. The law makes it illegal to retaliate for an employee’s using these rights. There are some excluded classes of workers, most significantly in-home support workers.