California Clarifies Paid Sick Leave Statute

On July 13, 2015, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law clarifying amendments to California's paid sick leave statute, the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014. That law, as originally enacted, was discussed in our September 11, 2014 Legal Alert. Implementing the paid sick leave requirements proved a challenge to many employers. Less than two weeks after the paid sick leave statute went into effect on July 1, 2015, California enacted, on an urgent basis, amendments to the law intended to help employers struggling to interpret and apply some of the vague and confusing provisions of the original statute.

The new amendments include the following clarifications:

• An employee must work for the employer at least 30 days in California within a year from the commencement of employment to be eligible for paid sick leave.