California Paid Sick Leave: Accrual, Caps & Carryover

Almost all employees — full-time, part-time, and temporary — who work at least 30 days in a year for the same employer in California are covered. Employees can begin using accrued sick leave on their 90th day of employment.

• Employees accrue at least 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked — or the employer can front-load a lump sum at the start of the year.
• As of January 1, 2024, an employer may cap use of accrued sick leave at 40 hours / 5 days per year (up from 24 hours / 3 days) — that cap becomes a guaranteed floor only if the employer front-loads the full amount at the start of the year or provides leave on the Labor Code § 246(b)(4) schedule (at least 24 hours / 3 days available by the 120th day and 40 hours / 5 days by the 200th).

• Accrued, unused sick leave carries over year to year, but an employer may cap total accrual at 80 hours / 10 days.
• Annual use may be capped at 40 hours / 5 days.
• Front-loading the full annual amount each year lets an employer avoid the carryover requirement.

Paid sick leave covers the employee's own or a family member's diagnosis, care, or treatment of an illness, preventive care, and certain purposes related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Employers may not require a doctor's note as a condition of taking accrued leave.

Several California cities — including Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, and Emeryville — have their own paid-sick-leave ordinances that are more generous than state law. San Diego is a split case: its ordinance states flat hour caps (SDMC § 39.0105 — a 40-hour annual use cap and an 80-hour accrual cap) where state law phrases the same caps as 40 hours or five days and 80 hours or 10 days (Labor Code § 246(d), (j)) — five days exceeds 40 hours for shifts longer than 8 hours, so the state figure can be the more protective one — and SDMC § 39.0106(a)(6) adds a covered use — closure of the workplace, or of a child's school or child care, by a public official during a public-health emergency — with no Labor Code § 246.5 counterpart. Where a local rule applies on accrual, use, and caps, you must follow whichever provision is more protective of the employee. That instruction has a boundary: since January 1, 2024 (SB 616), state law preempts a contrary local rule on six specific mechanics — lending of paid sick leave, the notice of available balance, calculation of paid sick leave, notice when leave is foreseeable, timing of payment, and whether payment is required on termination (Labor Code §246(r)) — so a local ordinance cannot override the state rule on those points even where it is otherwise more generous.