Retail accrual shortfall
Hourly cashier accrues at the wrong rate because POS-clocked break time is excluded.
California Paid Sick Leave Lawyer
Employee-side representation for workers whose California paid sick leave was denied, miscounted, or used against them. Free case review across the state.
Statewide California representation. Westview Law PC handles paid sick leave cases for employees from San Diego to Crescent City. Consultations are free and confidential.
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Recognized California trial result
30+ years
Combined trial experience in California wage-and-hour claims
Active DLSE filings
Wage Claim and retaliation matters in progress
Statewide
All 58 California counties served
What California paid sick leave law actually requires
California paid sick leave is a statutory floor, not a perk. The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 created the right, and Senate Bill 616 (Gonzalez, 2023) raised the minimum to 5 days or 40 hours of paid sick leave per year, whichever is greater. The accrual rule sits at Lab. Code §246. Almost every employee who works in California for 30 or more days within a year qualifies, including part-time, per-diem, temporary, and most agricultural workers.
The audience for this page is the employee who clocked a fever day, asked HR for paid hours, and got back a denial, a guilt-tripped warning, or a deduction from a discretionary bonus. Westview Law PC represents workers in those disputes. We file with the California Labor Commissioner (DLSE) when the path runs through wage-claim channels, and we file in superior court when retaliation under Lab. Code §246.5 is the better claim.
Two recent statutory shifts matter for any sick-leave dispute that arose on or after January 1, 2024. SB 616 nearly doubled the annual floor. Assembly Bill 1041 (Wicks, 2022) widened the list of people an employee can use sick leave to care for, adding a "designated person" the employee may identify each year. If your dispute predates 2024, the prior 3-day / 24-hour floor and the narrower family-member list still control.
Your rights under California paid sick leave law
The statutory framework has six moving parts. Knowing each one keeps you from accepting an employer reading that shaves your hours.
Accrual or front-load. Either method is allowed.
Under Lab. Code §246(b), an employer either accrues sick leave at one hour for every 30 hours worked, or front-loads the full 40 hours (5 days) at the start of each year. Accrual carries over year to year up to a 10-day / 80-hour cap. Front-load avoids carryover but the employer cannot dock the balance mid-year.
Usable from day 90.
An employee may begin using accrued sick leave on the 90th day of employment. A blanket policy that withholds use until the one-year mark violates §246(c).
Increments cap at two hours.
An employer may set a minimum-increment rule, but it cannot exceed two hours per use under §246(k). A four-hour-minimum rule is illegal on its face.
Pay rate matches your regular work rate.
Non-exempt employees are paid sick leave at the regular rate of pay for the workweek the leave is taken, or at a 90-day weighted average if the rate fluctuates. Exempt employees are paid in the same manner as other paid leave time.
Reasons of use are broad.
Permitted reasons include the employee's own illness, preventative care, the same care for a family member, and absences related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking (Lab. Code §246.5(a)). After AB 1041, "family member" now covers the employee's "designated person" identified once per year.
Retaliation is a separate claim with bigger teeth.
Adverse action because an employee used or requested sick leave violates Lab. Code §246.5(c). The statute creates a rebuttable presumption of retaliation if discipline follows within 30 days of the protected use.
How Westview Law handles your paid sick leave claim
- 1.Intake and document review. We pull your paystubs, employee handbook, and the policy language. We map your accrual against the §246 floor.
- 2.Wage-statement audit. Lab. Code §246(i) requires sick-leave balance on either the paystub or a separate written notice. A missing balance is its own §226 violation with separate penalties.
- 3.Demand letter to HR. We frame the issue specifically: hours owed, retaliatory action, and the §246.5 presumption.
- 4.DLSE Wage Claim or §1102.5 complaint. For pure unpaid sick leave, the Berman process at the Labor Commissioner is fastest. For retaliation, we file in superior court.
- 5.Investigation discovery. Time-clock data, manager texts, schedule changes after a sick day. We subpoena what HR will not produce.
- 6.Trial readiness. Sick-leave cases settle most of the time. We work the file as if it is going to a jury, because that posture moves settlement numbers.
12 scenarios where California paid sick leave claims arise
Exempt-employee denial
Salaried manager told she "does not get sick days" because she is exempt. SB 616 covers her.
Retaliation for using sick leave
Server gets a schedule cut the week after calling out for a migraine.
Healthcare-worker layered PSL
RN entitled to both §246 and the supplemental Health Care Worker PSL on top.
Front-load games at year boundary
Employer resets the balance to zero mid-year after the SB 616 increase took effect.
Designated-person denial
Worker tries to use leave to care for a chosen non-relative under AB 1041 and is told no.
Minimum-increment overreach
Policy forces employees to take sick leave in four-hour chunks, doubling lost wages on short visits.
Doctor-note demand for short absences
Employer requires a note for any sick day, chilling use. §246.5(a) allows broad self-certification.
Paystub balance missing
Wage statement omits sick-leave balance, triggering §226 penalties on top of §246.
Per-diem misclassification
Per-diem nurse working consistent shifts denied sick pay as if she were a contractor.
Termination after disclosure of illness
Employee tells the supervisor about a chronic condition; pretextual termination follows.
Domestic-violence absence retaliation
Employee uses sick leave for court appearance under §246.5(a)(2); manager writes her up.
9 forms a paid sick leave violation takes
Under-accrual
Hours credited at less than 1 per 30 worked.
Late availability
Use blocked past the 90-day mark.
Improper increment caps
Minimum-use rules above two hours.
Wrong pay rate
Paid at base only when commissions or shift differentials apply.
Retaliatory scheduling
Hours cut after a protected sick day.
Retaliatory discipline
Write-ups, PIPs, or terminations after use.
Misclassification
Treating qualifying workers as ineligible.
Wage-statement omission
Sick-leave balance not reported each pay period.
Carryover refusal
Year-end balance zeroed out under an accrual plan.
8 parties who can be liable for paid sick leave violations
The employer
The corporate entity that issues the W-2.
The direct supervisor
For retaliation claims under §246.5(c).
The HR director
When HR set the policy that violates §246.
Owners and officers
Personal liability for wage violations under Lab. Code §558.1.
The staffing agency
Joint-employer doctrine reaches staffing entities.
The client employer
Lab. Code §2810.3 imposes joint liability on host employers using labor contractors.
Successor entities
Asset purchasers can inherit wage liability under California successor-liability doctrine.
Payroll service providers
Liable in narrow cases where the provider exercised control over the policy.
Damages in a California paid sick leave case
Wage recovery
Unpaid sick hours at the regular rate, plus interest under Lab. Code §218.6, plus waiting-time penalties under Lab. Code §203 when separation triggers the rule.
Retaliation damages
Lost wages, emotional distress, and reinstatement under §246.5(c). PAGA penalties under Lab. Code §2699 where the violation is willful or affects multiple employees.
Attorney's fees
Recoverable to the prevailing employee under Lab. Code §218.5 in wage actions and §1102.5(j) when whistleblower retaliation overlaps with sick-leave retaliation.
Verified firm results
Past results in California paid sick leave claims are confidential and shared during consultation. Westview Law PC's public verified flagship outcomes across litigation include:
$146M
Jury verdict, commercial litigation
$11.4M
Judgment, real estate fraud
$3.2M
Jury verdict, breach of contract (Top 100 CA Verdicts 2024)
Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Each case depends on its specific facts. See the firm case results page for the complete record.
Why employees retain Westview Law for sick-leave claims
- ✓Plaintiff-side focus. The firm represents employees only.
- ✓Statewide California reach. Sick-leave cases land in DLSE offices from Oakland to El Centro, and the firm appears in each.
- ✓Wage-and-hour bench depth. Sick-leave disputes routinely surface §226 wage-statement claims and §203 waiting-time penalties.
- ✓Direct attorney contact. Clients speak with the lawyer handling the file, not a case manager.
The seven steps of a California paid sick leave case
- 01Consultation. Free, confidential, usually 30 to 45 minutes.
- 02Records pull. Paystubs, handbook, timecards, written denials.
- 03Pre-filing demand. A written demand letter often resolves accrual disputes.
- 04DLSE Wage Claim or superior court complaint. Filed within the SOL.
- 05Investigation and discovery. DLSE Berman conference or civil-court written discovery.
- 06Mediation. Most California wage cases mediate before trial.
- 07Trial or DLSE hearing. Bench trial in superior court; Berman hearing at the Labor Commissioner.
Statute-of-limitations warning
Sick-leave wage recovery follows CCP §338(a), the three-year limit for liability created by statute. Retaliation claims under §246.5(c) follow Lab. Code §98.7(a), which now allows one year to file with the Labor Commissioner after a 2020 amendment. A PAGA notice carries its own one-year window from the most recent violation. Missing any of these dates ends the claim. Talk to a lawyer the same week the violation surfaces.
Where paid sick leave cases are filed
The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), inside the Department of Industrial Relations, is the front-line wage enforcement agency. Sick-leave wage claims start with the local DLSE office covering the employee's county of work. The Berman process at the DLSE is informal, fast, and free, and decisions are appealable to the superior court for trial de novo.
Retaliation claims under Lab. Code §1102.5 and §246.5(c) can be filed with the Labor Commissioner's Retaliation Complaint Investigation Unit (RCI) or directly in superior court. There is no DLSE-exhaustion requirement for §1102.5 after the 2014 amendment. The federal forum applies only when a FLSA overlay or ADA accommodation claim joins the file, in which case the U.S. District Court for the Northern, Central, Eastern, or Southern District of California takes the matter, depending on residency and the place of employment.
The clock is running. SOL on sick-leave retaliation is one year from the adverse act.
Call (310) 906-4862 or use the form below for a free case review today.
What about filing the DLSE claim myself, or hiring a general-practice attorney?
DIY DLSE filings work for simple unpaid-hour disputes where the employer concedes the policy and only the math is in play. They falter when the employer denies the underlying right, when retaliation is in the picture, or when the wage-statement violation under §226 needs to be pleaded alongside §246. A general-practice attorney can handle the filing, but the §246 / §246.5(c) / §226 / §203 / §1102.5 stack rewards a wage-and-hour focus. The honest version of this section: if your case is one missed paystub line and an apology from HR, file it yourself. If your employer cut your hours or fired you, get a wage-and-hour lawyer on the phone.
Westview Law professional memberships
- ★California Bar Labor and Employment Section
- ★State Bar of California, in good standing
Paid sick leave FAQ
How much paid sick leave am I entitled to in California?
For accrual taken on or after January 1, 2024, the floor is 5 days or 40 hours per year, whichever is greater. SB 616 (2023) set that number. Accrual is one hour for every 30 hours worked, with carryover capped at 10 days or 80 hours. Employers may offer more, and several California cities (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland, San Diego, Santa Monica, West Hollywood) have local ordinances that exceed the state floor. Healthcare workers also have a layered Health Care Worker PSL on top of §246.
Does paid sick leave cover part-time and per-diem employees?
Yes. Lab. Code §245.5 defines "employee" broadly. Anyone who works 30 or more days within a year in California, full-time, part-time, per-diem, or temporary, accrues sick leave. The 90-day waiting period applies before use, but accrual starts on day one of employment.
Can my employer require a doctor's note for sick leave?
The statute does not require employees to certify a sick day with a doctor's note. Lab. Code §246.5(a) says an employee "may determine how much paid sick leave he or she needs to use," with reasonable advance notice if foreseeable. A blanket doctor-note demand for any sick day, especially short ones, is the kind of policy that chills use and supports a retaliation theory if discipline follows.
What is the "designated person" rule under AB 1041?
AB 1041 (2022) amended Lab. Code §245.5(c) to add a "designated person" to the family-member list. The employee can identify one designated person per year at the time of using leave. The person does not have to be a relative. Roommates, close friends, a partner who is not a registered domestic partner, all qualify. An employer can limit the designation to one per 12-month period but cannot refuse it.
My employer fired me a week after I used sick leave. Is that automatically illegal?
Not automatic, but Lab. Code §246.5(c)(2) creates a rebuttable presumption of retaliation when the employer takes adverse action within 30 days of the protected activity. The presumption shifts the burden to the employer to articulate a legitimate non-retaliatory reason, then the employee can attack that reason as pretext under Yanowitz v. L'Oreal USA, Inc. (2005) 36 Cal.4th 1028.
How is the sick-leave pay rate calculated for tipped or commissioned workers?
For non-exempt employees, §246(l) gives two methods. The employer pays at the regular rate of pay for the workweek in which the leave is taken. If the rate fluctuates because of commissions, piece rate, or shift differential, the employer uses a 90-day weighted average. The base hourly rate alone is not lawful when other compensation is part of regular pay.
Does my paystub have to show my sick-leave balance?
Yes. §246(i) requires the employer to provide written notice of available sick leave each pay period, either on the wage statement or in a separate document issued the same day. A missing balance is also a §226 wage-statement violation, which carries its own penalty schedule of $50 for the first pay period and $100 for each subsequent pay period, capped at $4,000.
What if I work in a city with its own sick-leave ordinance?
Local ordinances stack on top of state law when they grant more. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland, San Diego, Santa Monica, and West Hollywood each have ordinances with higher accrual caps, larger annual minimums, or broader covered reasons. The employee gets the more generous package by operation of the savings clause in §246(g).
Can my employer count an unpaid PTO day toward the sick-leave minimum?
Only if the PTO policy meets every requirement of §246. A combined PTO bank can satisfy the statute if it provides at least 5 days or 40 hours, can be used for the reasons in §246.5, has the same accrual and carryover, and is paid at the §246(l) rate. Many combined-PTO policies fall short on accrual cap or the rate calculation, which creates a §246 claim.
Do I have to give a reason when I call out sick?
No. Under §246.5(a) the employee gives "reasonable advance notification" if foreseeable, or "as soon as practicable" if not. The employee is not required to disclose the medical reason. A supervisor who demands a diagnosis as a condition of paid leave is overreaching the statute and probably setting up a retaliation file.
I am exempt and salaried. Do I still get California paid sick leave?
Yes. Exempt status under the executive, administrative, or professional tests does not exempt the employee from §246. The accrual still runs, the use rules still apply, and the employer must track balance in the same way as for non-exempt staff. Some employers treat exempt sick days as informal and untracked. That practice creates §246(i) and §226 problems when an exempt employee separates.
How long do I have to file a paid sick leave claim?
Wage recovery for unpaid sick leave: three years from the violation under CCP §338(a). Retaliation under §246.5(c) or §1102.5: one year to file with the DLSE Retaliation Complaint Investigation Unit, three years for the civil action. PAGA: one year from the most recent violation, with a 65-day administrative notice period that tolls the SOL. The cleanest move is to call counsel within weeks of the adverse act, before evidence walks.
About the attorney responsible for this page
David M. Safvati is a California-licensed employment lawyer at Westview Law PC, focused on wage-and-hour and retaliation claims. Education: Loyola Law School, J.D. Bar admissions: State Bar of California, admitted 2019; U.S. District Court for the Central District of California; U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. CA Bar #326605 (verify on calbar.ca.gov). Member, California Employment Lawyers Association. Past speaker on paid sick leave compliance for the Cal Bar Labor and Employment Section. The attorney's published case work includes wage-statement litigation under Naranjo v. Spectrum Security Services, Inc. (2022) 13 Cal.5th 93 and its application to sick-leave premium pay.
Free, confidential consultation. Statewide California representation.
Call (310) 906-4862Reviewed by David M. Safvati, CA Bar #326605. Last updated May 12, 2026.
Attorney Advertising. Page reviewed by David M. Safvati, CA Bar #326605. This advertisement is the responsibility of Westview Law PC. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes. Each case depends on its specific facts.
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