©2025 Seyfarth Shaw LLP www.seyfarth.com 2025 Cal-Peculiarities | 43 cities and counties to continue to enforce their own PSL ordinances that create employee entitlements and employer burdens beyond what California state law provides. Enforcement. The Labor Commissioner “may order any appropriate relief, including reinstatement, backpay, the payment of sick days unlawfully withheld, and the payment of an additional sum in the form of an administrative penalty to an employee or other person whose rights under this article were violated.”168 The administrative penalties vary depending on the violation. If paid sick days have been unlawfully withheld, then the administrative penalty is the greater of the value of those sick days multiplied by three or $250, not to exceed an aggregate penalty of $4,000. For other types of violations the penalty is $50 per day while the violations continue, not to exceed an aggregate penalty of $4,000.169 2.14.2 Covid-19 Paid Sick Leave As of the time of publishing, there are no longer any Covid-19 specific mandates in effect in California. 2.14.3 Local Paid Sick Leave Ordinances Numerous municipalities were not content to follow a uniform state-wide standard for paid sick leave. They have opted instead to create their own special laws. These municipalities include San Francisco, Berkeley, Emeryville, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco, and Santa Monica. In 2021, West Hollywood enacted a mandatory paid time off (PTO) law, joining the ranks of several jurisdictions nationwide with such a mandate. San Francisco Paid Sick Leave. The San Francisco Paid Sick Leave Ordinance (PSLO), enacted in 2007, is the grandparent of paid sick leave mandates.170 Under the PSLO, workers accrue an hour of PSL for each 30 hours worked. Accrued PSL carries over year to year, although employers may apply a cap. Small employers (those with fewer than 10 workers) may cap accrued PSL at 40 hours, and larger employers may impose a cap of 72 hours. Employees may take leave not only for their own illness, but also to care for a child, parent, spouse, domestic partner, or other designated person. Employers need not pay out unused PSL upon termination of employment, unless the PSL has been combined with vacation as a form of personal time off. With California’s new “designated person” coverage, the list of covered family members now matches state law. While state law allows “front loading” of PSL once a year, the PSLO addresses the concept of front-loading PSL somewhat differently. Employers may grant an advance of PSL, which halts accruals until the employee has worked enough hours to earn the amount of the grant, then accruals resume or another advance is needed. San Francisco employees can earn more PSL than under state law and face no limit on the amount of annual use. The San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) enforces the PSLO.171 OLSE rules state that if an employee is jointly employed, and if at least one employer is covered by the PSLO, then each employer must comply with the PSLO.172 The OLSE notes, by way of example, that joint employment can occur when an employer uses a temporary staffing agency, leasing agency, or professional employer organization. The ordinance also applies to an employee who may live in San Francisco and work from home, or who makes stops in San Francisco to work (for example, to make pickups or deliveries), if the employee works in San Francisco at least 56 hours within a calendar year.173 The OLSE rules also provide guidance on calculating the rate of pay for sick leave and generally track statewide standards.174 Like state law, the OLSE rules require different rate-of-pay calculations for exempt and nonexempt employees. Although the PSLO does not define “regular rate of pay” or “exempt employee,” the OLSE defers to the DLSE on calculating the regular rate of pay, and to California law regarding whether an employee is exempt or nonexempt from overtime requirements. If an individual is exempt, and no other form of paid leave is provided, then the employee must be paid the designated salary without deducting for sick time taken. But the time taken
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