Starting January 1, 2015, employers must post this poster in the workplace informing employees of their rights under California’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, which provides paid sick leave to employees. In addition, employers must provide non-exempt, hourly employees with an individualized Notice to Employee at the time of hire that includes information on the Act. Employers need to check off one of the four ways listed in the Notice in which they provide paid sick leave to employees. For current hourly employees, employers can accomplish such notice via an itemized wage statement (per Labor Code section 226) or through issuing the Notice above. Even though the notice obligations above begin in January, the Act itself goes into effect on July 1, 2015.
The Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (“DLSE”) recently issued FAQs on the Act discussing notice, accrual, and other helpful topics. Perhaps the most interesting is an FAQ regarding employers with honor or unlimited, no-accrual time off policies (covering both sick and vacation). The DLSE noted: “Most employers with this new but growing policy do not track how much time employees take off or for what reason. However, the new law requires that employers separately track sick leave accrual and use.” Thus, employers with these policies should ensure that they are complying with such tracking requirements.
See our September edition for more information on the Act.