Paid Sick Leave

Starting January 1, 2024, Certified employees who work in California for 30 or more days within a year are entitled to up to 5 days or 40 hours of paid sick leave.

Entitlement

• Work for the same employer for at least 30 days within a year in California, and
• Complete a 90-day employment period before taking any paid sick leave.
• Paid sick leave accrues at the rate of one hour per every 30 hours worked, paid at the employee’s regular wage rate. Accrual shall begin on the first day of employment. Accrued paid sick leave shall carry over to the following year of employment and may be capped at 80 hours or 10 days.
• An employer shall provide paid sick days upon the oral or written request of an employee for themselves or a family member for the diagnosis, care or treatment of an existing health condition or preventive care, or for an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
• An employer may limit the use of paid sick days to 40 hours or five days, whichever is greater, in each year of employment.
• Retaliation or discrimination against an employee who requests paid sick days or uses paid sick days or both is prohibited. An employee can file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner against an employer who retaliates or discriminates against the employee.

Fact sheet on Paid Sick Leave in California

Have a question? We have included an FAQ link to the California Department of Industrial Relations website: California Paid Sick Leave: Frequently Asked Questions.

Local CA Paid Sick Leave Ordinances

Local CA Paid Sick Leave Ordinances for Certain Cities Supersedes the General CA PSL Law:
Certified employees working on assignments in San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville or any other city which has its own local Paid Sick Leave Ordinance for 2024, can be assured that Certified is in compliance with those Local Labor Ordinances.

Reporting Absences

1. Contact Certified by phone or email
   If you are out sick or taking Paid Sick Leave for a family member or designee, you must notify Certified to report time off from an assignment.
2. How to notify Certified
   
   • Call the branch where you are registered with Certified.
   • If you become ill outside of business hours, you may leave an after-hours message for your assignment supervisor. But, again, as the employer-of-record, Certified needs to be the company you first contact regarding the absence.
   • If Paid Sick Leave eligible, please also send an email to mis@certifiedemployment.com
3. Reporting paid sick leave hours in order to get paid
   
   • Paid Sick Leave should be taken in full hour increments.
   • It MUST BE APPROVED by Certified in the week in which occurred.
   • It MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE TIMECARD reporting for the week in which it occurred.
4. Filling out a timecard for the assignment week during which you were sick
   Sick Leave hours must be entered in the Note section of the timecard so that the client/payroll is aware of this payroll attribution.
   
5. Sick leave pay checks
   When our payroll department receives your timecard, we check to ensure that the absence was properly noticed before we check to see how much PSL accrual has been credited to you for payment. The Paid Sick Leave check will be incorporated in your payroll check (which will include appropriate tax and other pertinent deductions).
6. Realistic appraisal of your anticipated return to assignment
   Because the nature of temporary work is such that we may be requested to refill your assignment during your absence, we ask that you be prepared to let us know your best estimate of how long you think you will be out. We know that this will not be something "written in stone", but we do want to be able to tell a replacement temporary employee how long they might be needed as your assignment replacement.
7. Confirmation of extended illness
   We may require doctor confirmation of your condition if you are out for more than 3 consecutive days from an assignment or 5 days in a two week period.