California Legislative Update -

Welcome back to our annual review of new laws that may impact California employers! This year’s highlights include California’s new paid sick leave law, additions to sexual harassment training for “abusive conduct,” an extension of the Fair Employment and Housing Act’s protections to unpaid interns and volunteers, and liability for businesses that use contract workers. All newly-enacted laws are effective January 1, 2015 unless otherwise stated.

Bills Signed into Law -

AB 1522 – California’s Paid Sick Leave Law.

AB 1522 requires employers to provide paid sick leave to employees who work 30 or more days in a year. It covers all employees with limited exceptions, such as certain home health workers and those covered by collective bargaining agreements. Accrual begins 30 days after the start of employment, at which point employees will earn one hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked. The law requires accrual until employees have 48 hours banked, which carry over from year to year. Employers may limit usage to 24 hours per year. Sick days are not “cashed out” when employees leave the job, although if an employee leaves and rejoins an employer within 12 months, the employee gets his banked time back. The law requires employers to show on pay stubs how many hours of sick leave are available to each employee, and to post a notice poster (to be prepared by the Labor Commissioner) informing employees of their rights under the law. The law will take effect on July 1, 2015, with accrual for employees beginning on July 31, 2015. AB 1522 is similar to San Francisco’s paid sick leave law, although San Francisco’s law provides for higher accrual caps.