Paid sick leave in CA for part-time employees

I think it's 40 hours or 5 days, whichever is greater.  So, if a full time shift is 9 hours a day (somehow) you'd have to accrue and pay 45 hours. And if a shift is 6 hours a day, you'd have to accrue 40 hours.

There is also language that indicates the employee can decide how many hours of sick pay they can elect to be paid when they are out for a day.  So, even if the employee typically works shorter shifts per day, or works less than 5 days per week, if they're out sick they can probably claim 8 hours a day.

I searched a lot of articles and also read the bill, but it was really hard to figure find any information about part time employees. As a result, I think that there probably is no special provision for part time, and the same rules apply to all employees.

Both of these sites says it's 40 hours or 5 days, whichever is greater:

https://www.seyfarth.com/news-insights/legal-update-if-pain-yes-gain-part-113-california-officially-...

https://www.ecjlaw.com/ecj-blog/california-increases-paid-sick-leave-for-employees

Hello there, @mgodden.

QuickBooks Desktop Payroll will depend on how you set up your employee paid time-off. Thus, I recommend reaching out to your state agency in regard to the state compliance.

For future reference, here is an article you can read in setting up employee time-off in QuickBooks Desktop Payroll: Set up and track time off in payroll.

Feel free to click the Reply button below if you need further assistance in setting up your employee payroll. I'm always here to help. Have a great day.

I have a number of employees who work only 5 or 6 hours a week.  Is there no minimum number of hours necessary to qualify for the forty hours.  They hit the 30 day requirement, but this seems excessive to require 40 hours of sick leave for someone who works around 300 hrs. per year.  They would prefer not to be paid as an independent contractor.  Any additional info on this would be appreciated.!

We recommend consulting the relevant agencies to assist with resolving the matter regarding paid sick leave for part-time employees, as124.

For proper setup of time-off policies, such as sick pay in QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) Payroll for part-time employees, it's best to refer to the state agency or your accountant. This ensures compliance with employee benefit regulations.

Once confirmed, you can refer to this article to set up time off, vacation, and sick pay for your employees: Track time off in payroll.

Additionally, there are several payroll reports you can use to view valuable information about your business finances and employees. If you want a guide on how to run, print, and customize them, please see this article: Payroll reports in QuickBooks Online Payroll.

Please keep me posted if you have any additional payroll concerns or questions about managing employee benefits in QBDT. I'll be right here to help.

@as124  RE: They hit the 30 day requirement, but this seems excessive to require 40 hours of sick leave for someone who works around 300 hrs. per year.

I found the state's FAQ page here: https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/paid_sick_leave.htm

Again, it doesn't really address your case, but it does insist that every employee must accrue 40 hours or 5 days worth of hours, whichever is more.

I am struggling with this as well...I am waiting for clarification from our labor attorney, but I am thinking that the wording is throwing us off. Here is summary from one of the links Big Red provided (I put in the underlines and bold print):

•   The number of paid sick days per year will be increased to 40 hours or 5 days, whichever is greater (increased from 24 hours or 3 days).
•   Employers may cap an employee’s use of paid sick leave to 40 hours or 5 days in each year of employment, calendar year, or 12-month period (increased from 24 hours or 3 days).
•   Employers may cap paid sick leave carryover accrual at 80 hours or 10 days, whichever is greater (increased from 48 hours or 6 days). The carryover requirement and accrual requirements are satisfied if the 40 hours or 5 days of paid sick leave is provided to the employee at the beginning of each year of employment, calendar year, or 12-month period.
•   Accrual remains the same at 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.
•   Employers may use a different accrual method, provided that accrual is on a regular basis so that an employee has no less than 24 hours or 3 days of paid sick leave by the completion of the employee’s 120th calendar day of employment, and no less than 40 hours or 5 days of paid sick leave by the completion of the employee’s 200th calendar day of employment.
•   Employees must be able to accrue 40 hours of paid sick leave by the 200th calendar day of employment or each calendar year, or in each 12-month period.

I think he said that the 120/200 hour requirement is only if you use a different accrual method than the standard. If we use the standard, all we have to change in QuickBooks is the carryover to 80 hours.  We have lots of part time seasonal employees that may only work a few hours a week.  Can't imagine they would get 40 hrs of sick pay!  The last line says "must be able" to accrue...if they worked sufficient hours at the standard accrual rate they would earn that much by the 120th or 200th day.  If they don't work enough, their accrual will be less, which seems very fair to me.  Now they can use up to 40 hours of sick pay per year instead of 24. 

So I think my setup should be:...  Accrual period:  Every hour on paycheck.  Hours accrued per hour paid: 0.03333  Maximum number of hours to accrue: 40  Reset hours each new year?  Yes  Maximum hours in carryover: 80.00 Year begins on :  Jan 1 Begin accruing sick time on :  Jan 1 

Does this look right?  I will keep an eye on amounts and see if this works out.

Hi, I found the following article in the California Labor & Employment Law Blog, that basically states the 120 days is predicated on full time (40 hour week) employment. If using the 1:30 accrual method, it does not pertain.

https://www.callaborlaw.com/entry/california-labor-enforcement-agency-clarifies-sick-leave-rule

(published Mar 15, 2024)

"Earlier this month, California’s Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) issued FAQ responses addressing this concern and, for a rare change, provided an employer favorable opinion, explaining, 

“If an employer is using the 1 hour of paid sick leave accrued for 30 hours worked[…], then the employer does not have to provide 24 hours or 3 days by the 120th day of the year and 40 hours or 5 days by the 200th day. The requirements to provide the minimum amounts by the 120th day and the 200th day of the year are set up as a measure for employers who use other accrual methods so that the plans meet certain minimums. The measure assumes full-time employment.”

Thus, an employer that uses a 30:1 ratio for a part-time employee is in compliance with California’s new PSL law, even if the employee does not earn 24 hours of PSL by the 120th day of employment/120th day of the year or 12-month period, or 40 hours of PSL by the 200th day.  "