Sick Time
Being sick or having family members who are sick can be frightening. It can also be inconvenient and stressful. You may need to work, but you also might need to take care of yourself or your family members.
Many California employees have paid sick time as part of their employee benefits package. However, what do you do if your employer will not allow you to take sick time? Or, what can you do if your employer refuses to pay you for sick time?
The San Diego employment law attorneys of Ferraro Vega San Diego Employment Lawyers understand your dilemma, and we want to help. Call (619) 393-8843 or contact our law firm to schedule a free consultation with one of our PTO (paid time off) lawyers to discuss your legal rights and options.
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How Can Our San Diego Employment Law Attorneys Help You with Sick Time Benefits?
California employees have a great deal of protection from employer misconduct and wrongdoing. Your employer may be violating the law if they deny your request for sick leave.
At Ferraro Vega San Diego Employment Lawyers, our San Diego wage and hour disputes lawyers handle all types of wage and benefit disputes, including PTO and sick time. Our legal team has the skills and knowledge to fight for our client’s best interests. Whereas employers often have deep pockets and aggressive defense teams to fight employee claims, our law firm dedicates its extensive resources to fight for employees.
When you hire our legal team to represent you, you can expect us to:
- Investigate your case to determine which laws your employer violated
- Gather evidence proving that your employer is guilty of labor law or employment law violation
- File all claims, complaints, and lawsuits necessary to protect your rights
- Monitor deadlines and respond to court requests or administrative requests for information and documents
- Carefully analyze all aspects of your case to determine which legal courses of action would give you the best chance of a positive outcome
- Fight to recover the best possible settlement or outcome available for your case
Don’t let an employer deny you leave that is rightfully yours. Contact our office today to speak with a San Diego sick time lawyer. Your initial consultation is free of charge.
What is the Healthy Workplace Healthy Family Act of 2014?
The Healthy Workplace Healthy Family Act of 2014 (HWHFA) is one of California’s most important labor laws. It provides many workers with paid sick time. Under the law, employers are required to provide paid sick time based on the number of hours an employer works.
The paid sick leave law covers employees who:
- Employees who work in California on a seasonal, part-time, temporary, or full-time basis
- For 30 or more days in 12 months
- For the same employer
The law does not cover all employees. Examples of employees who HSHFA would not cover:
- In-home support service providers
- Employees with qualifying collective bargaining agreement
- Retirees annuitants performing government work
- Certain air carrier employees
If an employee meets the paid sick leave requirements, the employee must be given at least one hour of sick leave after every 30 hours worked. Employers have the right to limit the number of hours of paid sick leave a worker can use in a year to 24 hours or three days.
Employers must allow workers to accrue unused paid sick leave and carry the hours over to the following year. However, the employer may cap carryover hours at 48 hours or six days.
Employer Designed Sick Leave Policies
An employer has the right to develop sick leave policies specific to their organization. For example, they could include unpaid sick leave and leave for preventative care based on a calendar year. However, the sick leave policies must meet the minimum requirements under state and local laws.
For example, employers could not reduce leave accruals below those in the HWHFA. Likewise, employers may provide additional paid sick time for their employees. However, they cannot provide less than one hour for every 30 hours worked.
Local Sick Leave Laws for San Diego
Several cities have passed sick leave laws that apply to employers within the city limits, including San Diego. Employers in San Diego are required to comply with both state and local sick time laws.
The San Diego Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance went into effect on July 11, 2016. The law applies to workers who perform at least two hours of work in a year within the city limits.
Employers must provide at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked within the city limits. Employers may cap the accrued sick leave at 80 hours. Unused sick time carries over to the following year.
The use of sick leave may be capped at 40 hours per benefit year. Employers can meet the accrual and carryover requirements by awarding an employee at least 40 hours of earned sick leave at the beginning of each benefit year.
Employees may use paid sick leave for:
- The employee’s physical or mental health conditions, illness, or injury
- Attending a doctor’s appointment for treatment, health care, or diagnosis
- Other medical reasons such as pregnancy or a physical examination
- Providing care to a family member who is ill
- Employee’s use of Safe time
- The place of employment is closed due to a public health emergency, or a child’s school is closed for a public health emergency
Safe time means time away from work as necessary for domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking victims.
Schedule a Free Consultation with Our San Diego Sick Time Lawyers
The above is just a summary of some of the important sections of the sick time laws in California and San Diego. For a comprehensive understanding of how the sick time laws apply in your situation, contact our office to discuss your case in greater detail. Our San Diego sick time lawyers are ready to help you with your case.
