California paid sick leave lawyersHours you earned. Yours to use.
For California workers who were denied sick days, shorted on sick pay, or punished for calling in sick. We work exclusively for workers.
Lea nuestra guía en españolThe math is simple: at least 1 hour banked for every 30 hours you work. 1,200 hours of work banks 40 hours of paid sick leave. Working full time, that’s about 30 weeks.
Fill the glass with your hours
1,200 hours worked banks 40 hours. You’ve reached the 40-hour line.
An estimate at the basic rate of 1 hour per 30 worked, before any hours you’ve used. Some employers use a different schedule that meets the same minimums, or give 40 hours (5 days) up front each year instead, and some cities require more.
Your case, live on your phone.
We built our own case management software — and our clients get a window into it. Open the dashboard to see where your case stands, what's next, and who's working on it.
-
Where your case stands
See what's happening and what comes next, without waiting on a call back.
-
Appointments & key dates
Your upcoming meetings, calls and case events in one timeline.
-
Upload evidence
Send photos, pay stubs, texts and documents straight from your phone to your file.
-
Message your team
Reach the people working on your case directly, from the same screen.
Built in-house by Employees First. Not off-the-shelf software.
Free Case ReviewIs this you?
If this sounds familiar, it may be against the law.
Paid sick leave isn’t a favor from your employer. You earn it with every shift you work. Any of these can be a sign your rights were ignored.
- You were told you don’t get sick days
New hire, part-timer, temp or per diem? Almost every California worker earns paid sick leave, starting on day one.
- You got points or a write-up for calling in sick
If you had sick time available and used it for a covered reason, it generally can’t count against you.
- You were fired, or your hours were cut, after a sick day
Punishing you for using sick leave you earned is against the law.
- You were told to find your own cover
Your employer can’t make finding a replacement a condition of using your sick time.
- Your sick pay was short, or came late
It must be paid at the rate the law requires, no later than the next regular payday.
- Your pay stub never shows your sick balance
Each payday, your employer must tell you in writing how much sick leave you have.
- You were refused because it was for family
A parent, grandchild, partner, sibling, or one person you designate: their care counts.
- You were told to give more notice than the law asks
Woke up sick? The rule is notice as soon as practicable, not days ahead.
- You were told you need a doctor’s note
Generally, your employer can’t deny sick leave just because you don’t have one.
- You were refused safe time
Survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and other violent crimes can use sick leave for court and safety needs.
Not every attendance write-up is illegal. Absences beyond the sick time you had, or for reasons the law doesn’t cover, can still count under a normal attendance policy. We’ll help you sort out which is which.
Who counts
Who you can stay home for.
Your sick time isn’t only for you. Every lit window in this building is someone the law lets you use it for.
The building directory
Everyone behind these windows is covered.
California’s paid sick leave law lets you use your sick time for your own health and for eight kinds of people in your life. Choose a name to light its window.
- Your grandparent. Sick leave covers their diagnosis, care, treatment or preventive care, just as it does yours. Labor Code § 245.5(c)
- Your biological, adoptive or foster parent, stepparent or legal guardian, and your spouse's or registered domestic partner's parent too. Taking them to a medical appointment can count. Labor Code § 245.5(c)
- Your grandchild. Caring for them when they are sick, or taking them to a checkup, is covered. Labor Code § 245.5(c)
- Your spouse. Caring for them, or taking them to treatment or preventive care, is a covered reason to use your sick leave. Labor Code § 245.5(c)
- Your own health: diagnosis, care or treatment of an existing health condition, or preventive care, like a checkup. You don't have to be bedridden to use it. It also covers safe time if you survived domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or another violent crime, plus jury duty or testifying under a subpoena. Labor Code § 246.5(a); Gov. Code § 12945.8
- Your registered domestic partner is covered the same way a spouse is. Their parent counts as your parent. Labor Code § 245.5(c)
- Your child, at any age: a biological, adopted or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a child you are raising as a parent. The same reasons apply to them as to you, including checkups. Labor Code § 245.5(c)
- Your brother or sister. Staying home to care for them, or taking them to treatment, is covered. Labor Code § 245.5(c)
- One person you name when you ask for the time off. They don't have to be related to you: a close friend, a neighbor, a partner you haven't registered with. Your employer may limit you to one designated person every 12 months. Labor Code § 245.5(c)
Every apartment
The reasons are the same for all nine.
Yours, and theirs.
You can use paid sick leave for the diagnosis, care or treatment of an existing health condition, or for preventive care, for yourself or for any of the people listed here. If you are a survivor of crime or abuse, you can also use it for safe time.
The law spells out who counts, and this building is the whole list. Aunts, uncles and cousins aren’t on it by themselves, but one of them could be your designated person. Labor Code §§ 245.5, 246.5; Gov. Code § 12945.8
The law in plain English
Your sick leave rights, rule by rule
California’s paid sick leave law is the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, Labor Code sections 245 to 249. Here is what it says, without the legalese.
-
01
Who’s covered
Almost every worker who works for the same employer in California for 30 or more days within a year: full-time, part-time, temporary, per diem, and in-home caregivers (IHSS providers). Staffing-agency workers are covered too.
A few narrow groups are excluded or only partly covered, such as some union members whose contracts already provide paid sick leave, airline flight crews, railroad workers, and some retired public employees working for public agencies.
Labor Code §§ 245.5, 246 · Labor Commissioner FAQ -
02
How you earn it
At least 1 hour for every 30 hours you work, starting on your first day. If you’re a salaried, exempt employee, you’re treated as working 40 hours a week, or your normal week if it’s shorter.
Your employer may use a different schedule, as long as you have at least 24 hours by your 120th day and at least 40 hours by your 200th day.
Labor Code § 246(b) -
03
When you can use it
From your 90th day of employment, and after that as you earn it. You decide how much you need. Your employer can set a minimum amount per use, but no more than 2 hours.
Labor Code § 246(c), (k) -
04
How much: the two lines on the glass
Since January 1, 2024, your employer can limit how much you use each year, but not below 40 hours or 5 days, whichever is more. It can cap how much you build up, but not below 80 hours or 10 days, whichever is more. Unused hours carry over to the next year.
Instead of accrual, your employer can front-load: give you the full 40 hours or 5 days at the start of each year. Then it doesn’t have to let hours carry over. A PTO policy can take the place of sick leave if it meets the same rules.
Labor Code § 246(d), (f), (j) · Labor Commissioner FAQ -
05
What you can use it for
- Your own or a family member’s health: diagnosis, care or treatment of an existing condition, or preventive care like checkups.
- Safe time: if you or a family member are a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking or another violent crime, to seek a restraining order or other relief, or go to court. At employers with 25 or more employees, also for medical care, counseling, shelter or victim services, safety planning, relocating, or legal help.
- Jury duty, or appearing in court as a witness under a subpoena.
- Outdoor agricultural workers: to avoid smoke, heat or flooding during a declared emergency.
-
06
Whose care counts
You can use it for your own health and for eight kinds of people in your life: your child, parent, spouse, registered domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, and one designated person you name. See who lives behind each window.
Labor Code § 245.5(c) -
07
Your pay, and when it’s due
Sick time is paid at your regular rate, calculated the way the law requires. If you earn commissions, piece rate or bonuses, that rate can be higher than your base hourly wage. It must be paid no later than the payday for the next regular payroll period.
Each payday, your pay stub or a separate writing must show how much sick leave you have available.
Labor Code § 246(i), (l), (n) -
08
Notice, doctor’s notes and cover
If the need is foreseeable, like a scheduled appointment, give reasonable advance notice. If it isn’t, like waking up sick, give notice as soon as practicable. You can ask out loud or in writing.
Under the Labor Commissioner’s guidance, your employer generally can’t deny paid sick leave just because you don’t have a doctor’s note. Asking for documentation may be reasonable only in limited situations, such as when the employer has real information that the leave isn’t for a valid reason. And your employer can’t make you find your own replacement.
Labor Code §§ 246(m), 246.5(b) · Labor Commissioner FAQ -
09
Retaliation is against the law
Your employer can’t deny, threaten, demote, suspend, fire or otherwise punish you for using or trying to use sick leave you’ve earned, for complaining about a violation, or for cooperating in an investigation. If you had sick leave available and used it for a covered reason, it generally can’t become an attendance “point” or “occurrence.”
The 30-day presumption. If you’re punished within 30 days of complaining about a sick-leave violation, cooperating in an investigation, or opposing an unlawful practice, the law presumes it was retaliation, and your employer has to prove otherwise.
Labor Code § 246.5(c) · Labor Commissioner FAQ -
10
City laws, and leaving the job
Some cities give more. Los Angeles, for example, requires at least 48 hours a year, and San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville, Santa Monica and West Hollywood have their own sick-leave rules. When state and local law differ, your employer generally must follow whichever rule is more generous to you. State law still controls a few things, like how sick pay is calculated and when it’s paid.
Unused sick leave isn’t paid out when you leave, unless your employer’s policy provides for it. A combined PTO or vacation balance is different. If you’re rehired by the same employer within a year, your unused sick leave comes back.
Labor Code §§ 246(g), (r), 249(d) · Labor Commissioner FAQ -
11
Who enforces it, and the deadlines
The Labor Commissioner enforces the sick leave law. You can file a wage claim for unpaid sick pay, generally within three years, or a retaliation complaint, generally within one year. Sick-leave violations can also be part of a PAGA claim, which seeks civil penalties on behalf of the state and your coworkers and has its own one-year deadline. If you were fired, other claims may apply.
Deadlines are short. Talk to a lawyer early.
Labor Code §§ 98.7, 248.5, 2699
What you can recover
What can flow back to you
Every case is different, and nothing here is a promise of any amount. Depending on what happened, a claim may include:
Your unpaid sick pay
Sick time you were denied pay for, or paid for at the wrong rate, with interest.
Labor Code § 248.5(b), (f)Labor Commissioner penalties
If the Labor Commissioner finds sick pay was withheld, it can order a penalty paid to you of three times the unpaid amount or $250, whichever is greater, up to $4,000. If the violation caused other harm, like losing your job, the penalty can include $50 for each day it continued, up to $4,000.
Labor Code § 248.5(b)Your job and lost pay
If you were fired or punished for using sick leave, remedies can include reinstatement, back pay and lost benefits.
Labor Code §§ 98.6, 248.5(b)Final pay penalties
If you left the job and your employer willfully failed to pay your final wages on time, waiting-time penalties of up to 30 days of your daily wages may apply.
Labor Code § 203PAGA penalties
Sick-leave violations can be part of a PAGA claim for civil penalties on behalf of the state and your coworkers.
Labor Code § 2699Attorney’s fees, where the law allows
Some claims, including PAGA claims, let a worker who prevails recover attorney’s fees and costs from the employer.
Labor Code § 2699(k)No attorney’s fee and no case costs unless we recover money for you. If we do, our fee is a percentage of the recovery, and the case costs we advanced are repaid from your share — all set out in your written fee agreement.
What to gather
Bring what you have. We’ll help with the rest.
You don’t need everything to start. Copies of what you already have help us see the whole picture.
Keep only copies you’re lawfully allowed to have. Don’t take confidential company records.
- Pay stubs
Especially ones that show, or never show, your sick leave balance.
- Attendance or points policy
The rules on call-outs, points, occurrences and discipline.
- Texts, emails or call logs
Messages where you called in sick, asked for time, or were told no.
- Write-ups and notices
Points notices, warnings, schedule cuts or a termination letter.
- Schedules and time records
Your hours worked, which is how your sick time adds up.
- The handbook’s sick policy
Including any rules about notice, doctor’s notes or finding cover.
- Coworkers treated the same way
Names of others who were denied sick time or punished for using it.
- Your own notes
Dates you were sick, who you told, and what they said.
Once we take your case, you can upload these in your client app, so everything stays in one place.
Results
Results in related cases
$1,800,000
Settlement
Wage and Hour Class Action
$1,200,000
Settlement
Wage and Hour Class & PAGA Action
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
FAQ
Questions workers ask us
Short answers to the questions we hear often. Your situation may have details that change the answer, so a free consultation is a good place to start.
How many paid sick days do I get in California?
You earn at least 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours you work. Your employer can limit how much you use each year, but not below 40 hours or 5 days, whichever is more, and can cap your total balance, but not below 80 hours or 10 days, whichever is more. Some employers give the full 40 hours or 5 days at the start of each year instead, and some cities require more.
Can I be fired for calling in sick in California?
Not for using paid sick leave you’ve earned for a covered reason. California law forbids firing, suspending, demoting, threatening or otherwise punishing you for using or trying to use accrued sick leave. If you’re punished within 30 days of complaining about a sick-leave violation, the law presumes it was retaliation. Absences beyond the sick time you had, or for reasons the law doesn’t cover, can still count under a normal attendance policy.
Does my employer have to pay out sick leave when I quit?
No. Unused paid sick leave doesn’t have to be paid out when you quit or are fired, unless your employer’s policy provides for it. A combined PTO or vacation balance is different and is generally paid out as wages. If the same employer rehires you within a year, your unused sick leave must be reinstated.
Can my employer require a doctor’s note?
Generally, no. Under the Labor Commissioner’s guidance, your employer can’t deny paid sick leave just because you don’t have a doctor’s note. In limited situations, such as when the employer has real information that the leave isn’t for a valid reason, asking for documentation may be reasonable.
Can I use sick leave to care for my parent, grandchild, or someone who isn’t family?
Yes. Covered family members are your child (of any age), parent (including a stepparent, a legal guardian, and your spouse’s or registered domestic partner’s parent), spouse, registered domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild and sibling. You can also name one designated person when you ask for the time, who doesn’t have to be related to you. Your employer may limit you to one designated person every 12 months.
Do part-time workers get paid sick leave?
Yes. If you work for the same employer in California for 30 or more days within a year, you’re covered, whether you’re full-time, part-time, temporary or per diem. Part-time workers earn it at the same rate, 1 hour for every 30 hours worked, so it builds more slowly. You can start using it on your 90th day of employment.
Does my city give more sick leave?
It might. Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Emeryville, Santa Monica and West Hollywood have their own sick leave rules. The City of Los Angeles, for example, requires at least 48 hours of use a year. When state and local law differ, your employer generally must follow whichever rule is more generous to you, though state law still controls things like the pay rate, payment timing and payout when you leave.
How long do I have to file a sick leave claim?
Deadlines are short: generally one year to file a retaliation complaint with the Labor Commissioner, and three years for a sick-pay wage claim. PAGA claims also have a one-year deadline. Talk to a lawyer early.
Related
Where sick leave meets your other rights
Free case review
You earned those hours. Let’s make them count.
Tell us what happened. Free virtual consultations, with a firm that works exclusively for workers and has served California workers since 2012.
Prefer to write? Contact us online. This page is general information, not legal advice for your situation.
Your free case review
Tell us what happened. Free virtual consultations, exclusively for workers, in English or Spanish.