San Francisco Mandates

Paid Sick Leave

By Louis A. Storrow, Esq.

As of February 5, 2007, all employers with employees who work within San Francisco – whether full time, part time or temporary – must be given paid sick leave. Sick leave begins to accrue immediately for current employees, and after 90 days for new employees, at the rate of one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Paid sick leave accrues only in one hour increments, not less, and it’s capped at 72 hours, or 40 hours for employers of fewer than 10 employees in a given week (including temps hired through staffing agencies). The caps are not annual – that is, as time is used, more may accrue up to the cap. And, unlike sick leave at most employers, this leave carries forward from year to year – it’s like vacation time, only it need not be cashed out on termination. The new paid sick leave can be used for illness, injury, medical care, medical appointments, and for the care of a family member, including a spouse or registered domestic partner. There’s no limit on how much an employee can use in a given year, and it can be used to take care of more “family members” than those specified under the state “kin care” law. The San Francisco ordinance includes a child; parent; legal guardian or ward; sibling; grandparent; grandchild; spouse, registered domestic partner (under any state or local law). If the employee has no spouse or registered domestic partner, he or she can also choose a “designated person” to care for using this leave, such as an unmarried partner, a roommate or just a good friend.

Employers have to give workers the opportunity to pick a “designated person” no later than 30 work hours after accrual begins, and the employee has 10 work days to make a designation. Changes can be made annually – again with a 10-day window.

Under the new law, employees can’t be forced to find a replacement to cover their shift, although the employer can ask for reasonable notice of an absence, and may take “reasonable measures” to verify that an employee’s use of the time is legitimate.

Employers have to post a notice about the law and keep records of sick leave accrual and usage for four years, subject to inspection by the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement.

The ordinance makes it unlawful to retaliate against an employee who uses the sick leave or complains about violations.

Potential penalties include paying the employee three times the amount of unpaid leave, and San Francisco can assess a $50 a day fine for violations. Employees who sue are also entitled to interest and attorney fees.

EXCEPTIONS

An employer who already offers the minimum sick leave required by the ordinance need not offer additional leave. For example, if you have a PTO (paid time off) policy that offers at least one hour for every 30 hours worked, which employees can use for illness along with other purposes, the employer does not have to offer additional paid sick leave. For that reason, many affected employers who have offered vacation time separate from sick leave may consider converting to PTO plans – although accrued unused PTO is treated as vacation time and must be paid out in cash on termination. Employers with collective bargaining agreements that expressly waive the terms of the ordinance will be entitled to ignore the ordinance for those employees covered by the agreement.

The reasoning behind the ordinance, which was approved by San Francisto voters in November, 2006 by a 61% vote, includes the following: a) sick employees should be able to stay home and not infect others, b) employees should not lose money when caring for sick children or other family members; and c) a parent of a sick child should be able to stay home and keep the child home rather than send a sick child to school to infect others.

The City and County of San Francisco maintains a website with more information.

City & County of San Francisco Resources

��Office of Labor Standards Enforcement

��www.sfgov.org/olse

��Paid Sick Leave Hotline: (415) 554-6271

��Paid Sick Leave Email: PSL@sfgov.org

��Office of Economic & Workforce Development

��www.sfgov.org/moed

��(415) 554-6969

©January 2007