Executive Summary: On April 19, 2016, the Los Angeles City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of a proposed ordinance that would permit Los Angeles workers to earn at least six paid sick leave days annually. That is double the mandatory minimum under California's state-wide paid sick leave law.
The proposed ordinance, which still needs to be drafted by the City Attorney's Office before final approval, is expected to take effect July 1, 2016. This will coincide with the City's minimum wage increase to $10.50 an hour in Los Angeles (which is higher than California's state minimum wage requirement of $10 per hour). The City's minimum wage increase also takes effect July 1, 2016, with further incremental annual increases to $15 per hour by July 1, 2020. Businesses with 25 employees or fewer would have an additional year to comply with the new sick leave requirement.
An employee will be entitled to the paid sick leave if, on or after July 1, 2016, the employee works in the City of Los Angeles for the same employer for 30 days or more within a year. Employers may provide that new employees may not use paid sick leave for the first 90 days of employment. Employees may use paid sick time for themselves and to care for family members.
Under the proposed ordinance, employers must provide the six days of paid sick leave up front, or accrue it at the rate of one hour per every 30 hours worked. This is similar to the California state-wide law as well as the San Francisco, Oakland, and Emeryville ordinances. Accrued paid sick leave carries over to the following year of employment, but may be capped at 72 hours (in contrast to the California state-wide cap of 48 hours). Similar to California's state paid sick leave, the proposed ordinance does not require employers to pay out accrued or unused sick days upon separation from employment. Since the ordinance has not yet been drafted, it remains unclear if there will be a requirement that the City's mandated sick leave be reflected on the wage statement as is required by California's sick leave law.
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