Paid Sick Leave in California
The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 was signed by Governor Jerry Brown on September 10, 2014. The Act that required that all employers in both the public or private sector, regardless of size, to allow their employees to accumulate their paid sick time at the rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked (Medical Benefits, 2014). As a result, each employee is entitled to accrue sick leave if he or she is working in California for at least 30 days within one year from the start of employment which will commence on July 1, 2015. The law has allowed the employer to limit the use of paid sick leave of their employees to 24 hours or three days in one year. The accumulated unused sick leave which goes beyond 24 hours if unused, shall be carried over as part of the sick leave from year to year (Medical Benefits, 2014).
The law only allows that employees to use their accrued sick days from the start of their 90th day of employment.
It is beneficial for some of the employees who work under a valid collective bargaining agreement since it provides for analogous paid sick time, and for those earning at least more than thirty percent of the state minimum wage under the terms of employment that are not covered by the new law. The Act does not extend to employees who are under the construction industry who are parties to a valid collective bargaining agreement that required like terms of employment. This means that a regularly hourly rate of pay that is not lower than 30 percent or more than the state minimum wage who entered the agreement before January 1, 2015, shall expressly waive the requirements of the Act. This will cover the employers in the construction industry which negotiated a collective bargaining agreement. At the same time, the new law exempted other types of employees, such as those that are under the in-home supportive services (Medical Benefits, 2014).
The supporters of the of the law such as the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO argued that the new law will have a positive effects for the people in the state of California since it guarantees that each worker will be paid time off to recover from their illnesses, take care for a sick family member, or will have bonding time with a new baby. In addition, the new law also protects the workers who claim that such benefit under employer retaliation. On the other hand, many employers has voluntarily offer the non-accruing sick leave to full-time workers such as the California Chamber of Commerce. The group has objected the bill since it only creates a financial burden for the employers since they have to expand the leave benefits to some of their part-time or temporary and seasonal workers (Medical Benefits, 2014).
Works Cited:
“California Enacts Paid Sick Leave Law.” Medical Benefits 31.19 (2014): 7-8. Business Source
Complete. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.
Colla, Carrie H., et al. “Early Effects of The San Francisco Paid Sick Leave Policy.” American
