Labor Code §246 – Paid Sick Leave Accrual and Use

California Labor Code section 246 gives almost every employee who works 30 or more days within a year for the same California employer paid sick leave: at least one hour for every 30 hours worked, usable starting on the 90th day of employment, with the right to use at least 40 hours or five days each year. Its companion, section 246.5, lists what you can use the leave for and bars your employer from punishing you for using it.

Section 246 was last amended effective January 1, 2024, by SB 616 (Stats. 2023, ch. 309), which set the yearly minimum at five days or 40 hours. Section 246.5 was amended to add jury duty and witness appearances and expand crime-victim uses for leave taken on or after January 1, 2025, and to add certain court proceedings for crime victims and their families for leave taken on or after January 1, 2026. This page explains the statute; for step-by-step help with a denied request, see our guide to California paid sick leave rights.

What Labor Code 246 says, subdivision by subdivision

Subdivision	What it says (paraphrased)
(a)	Working 30 or more days within a year for the same California employer earns paid sick days. IHSS providers have their own start dates.
(b)	Accrual of at least one hour per 30 hours worked; exempt employees are treated as working 40 hours a week unless their normal week is shorter. Other accrual methods are allowed if you have 24 hours (or 3 days) by day 120 and 40 hours (or 5 days) by day 200.
(c)	Use starts on the 90th day of employment.
(d)	Unused days carry over. Use may be limited to 40 hours or five days a year. Front-loading the “full amount of leave” (five days or 40 hours) each year replaces accrual and carryover.
(e), (o)–(q)	IHSS phase-in and implementation.
(f)	A compliant PTO or paid leave policy satisfies the section; no extra sick days are required.
(g)	No payout of unused sick days at separation; reinstatement if rehired within one year.
(h)	Employer may lend sick days before they accrue.
(i)	Available balance shown on your pay stub or in a separate writing on payday.
(j)	Accrual may be capped at 80 hours or 10 days.
(k)	You decide how much leave to use; minimum increment can be no more than two hours.
(l), (n)	How sick pay is calculated, and payment by the next regular payday.
(m)	Reasonable advance notice for foreseeable leave; notice as soon as practicable otherwise.
(r)	Subdivisions (g), (h), (i), (l), (m) and (n) override contrary local ordinances.

By the numbers40 hours

Who section 246 covers

There is no minimum employer size, and the Labor Commissioner says the law covers part-time, temporary and per diem workers. If you are placed by a staffing agency, whoever is your employer or joint employer, the agency or the client company, must provide the leave. Under Labor Code 245.5, “employer” includes the state, cities, counties and other public entities.

Labor Code 245.5(a) leaves out a few groups:

• Workers under a union contract that expressly provides paid sick days or equivalent time off, binding arbitration of sick leave disputes, premium overtime pay, and a regular hourly rate at least 30% above the state minimum wage. Section 246.5’s protections still apply to them (246.5(d)).
• Certain construction workers under a qualifying union contract that took effect before January 1, 2015, or that expressly waives the paid sick leave article in clear and unambiguous terms.
• Airline flight deck and cabin crew covered by the federal Railway Labor Act who get at least as much paid time off.
• Certain retired public employees rehired without reinstatement into their retirement system, and railroad employees covered by federal law.

Where a city ordinance is more generous, your employer must follow it, except on the topics in subdivision (r), where state law controls.

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How you earn paid sick leave

The default is one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Employers have three other lawful options:

• Different accrual schedule. Any regular method that gives you at least 24 hours or 3 days by day 120 and 40 hours or 5 days by day 200.
• Front-loading. The full five days or 40 hours at the start of each year. A front-loading employer doesn’t have to carry unused time over.
• PTO policy. A vacation or PTO policy that lets you use the time for the same purposes and under the same conditions, and meets section 246’s accrual, carryover and use rules.

Once you reach an 80-hour or 10-day cap, you stop earning until you use some.

Using your sick leave

You can start using accrued leave on your 90th day of employment. Your employer may limit use to 40 hours or five days a year. The statute doesn’t say which of the two controls, but the Labor Commissioner, which enforces it, reads it as “whichever is more”: a worker on 10-hour shifts is entitled to at least 50 hours.

Under section 246.5(a), you can ask orally or in writing, and your employer must provide paid sick days for:

• Diagnosis, care or treatment of an existing health condition, or preventive care, for you or a family member.
• Jury service and court appearances as a subpoenaed witness, plus specified purposes for crime victims, such as seeking a restraining order, medical care, counseling, safety planning or relocation (Government Code 12945.8, for leave taken on or after January 1, 2025). Some of the victim-related uses apply only at employers with 25 or more employees.
• A crime victim or a victim’s family member attending judicial proceedings related to certain serious crimes (for leave taken on or after January 1, 2026).
• For outdoor agricultural workers, avoiding smoke, heat or flooding caused by a declared state or local emergency.

“Family member” is broad: children of any age, parents and parents-in-law, spouse, registered domestic partner, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings and one “designated person” you name when you ask for leave. Your employer may limit you to one designated person per 12 months.

Your employer can’t make you find a replacement worker (246.5(b)), and according to the Labor Commissioner it generally can’t deny leave just because you didn’t bring a doctor’s note.

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How sick pay is calculated and when it’s paid

For nonexempt employees, subdivision (l) allows two methods:

1. Your regular rate of pay for the workweek in which you use the leave, or
2. Your total wages, not counting overtime premium pay, divided by your total hours worked in the full pay periods of the prior 90 days of employment.

Exempt employees are paid the same way the employer pays for other paid leave. Sick pay is due by the payday for the next regular payroll period after you take the leave, and your available balance must appear on your pay stub or in a separate writing on payday.

Key fact

Carryover, leaving the job and rehire

Unused leave carries over, subject to the accrual cap. Section 246 doesn’t require payout when you leave, unlike vacation or PTO under Labor Code 227.3. If the same employer rehires you within one year, your unused days come back unless they were paid out under a PTO policy.

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Retaliation, penalties and remedies

Section 246.5(c) bars your employer from denying your right to use accrued sick days, or from firing, threatening, demoting, suspending or discriminating against you for using or trying to use them, filing a complaint, cooperating in an investigation, or opposing a practice the law prohibits. Adverse action within 30 days of a complaint, cooperation in an investigation or opposition creates a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation.

Labor Code 248.5 gives the Labor Commissioner power to investigate, issue citations and sue. Remedies can include reinstatement, back pay, payment of the sick days withheld, and an administrative penalty paid to you:

• Sick pay withheld: three times the dollar amount withheld, or $250, whichever is greater, up to $4,000 in total.
• Other violations, such as firing you: $50 for each day the violation occurred or continued, up to $4,000 in total.

Under Labor Code 247.5, employers must keep records of hours worked and sick days accrued and used for three years. If they don’t, you are presumed entitled to the maximum leave the law allows unless the employer proves otherwise by clear and convincing evidence. An isolated, unintentional payroll or notice error doesn’t trigger a penalty under section 248.5(h).

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Deadlines

Claim	General deadline	Source
Retaliation complaint with the Labor Commissioner	1 year after the retaliation; can be extended for good cause	Labor Code 98.7
Claim for sick pay that was withheld	Generally 3 years for liabilities created by statute	Code Civ. Proc. 338(a)
PAGA notice for civil penalties	Generally 1 year from the violation	Labor Code 2699 and following

Which deadline applies can depend on the claim, so get advice well inside the shortest one.

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Related sections

Section	What it adds
Labor Code 245.5	Definitions, excluded workers and “family member”
Labor Code 246.5	Protected uses, no-replacement rule, anti-retaliation and the 30-day presumption
Labor Code 247.5	Three-year recordkeeping and the presumption when records are missing
Labor Code 248.5	Labor Commissioner enforcement, penalties and attorney’s fees
Labor Code 233–234	Kin care: using sick leave for family members under an employer’s own sick leave plan
Government Code 12945.8	Time off for jury duty, witness appearances and crime victims
Labor Code 2699 (PAGA)	Civil penalties workers can pursue on the state’s behalf

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How it plays out

💡 Example: Rosa, a hypothetical warehouse office clerk, works four 10-hour shifts a week, has worked there for two years and has 60 hours of sick leave banked. Her employer’s policy caps sick leave use at 40 hours a year. In March 2026 she calls out for five shifts for surgery and recovery. Under the Labor Commissioner’s reading of the yearly minimum (40 hours or five days, whichever is more), she is entitled to use 5 × 10 = 50 hours. Over the full pay periods of the prior 90 days (six two-week pay periods of 80 hours) she earned $9,600 (not counting overtime premiums) for 480 hours, so her sick pay rate is $9,600 ÷ 480 = $20.00 an hour, or $1,000 for the 50 hours. If the employer refuses to pay the fifth day ($200), the Labor Commissioner can award that $200 plus a penalty of three times the withheld amount ($600), which is more than the $250 minimum.

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What to do if your sick leave was denied

1. Save pay stubs showing your sick leave balance, and put leave requests in writing.
2. Write down the dates of any discipline, cut hours or firing after you asked for or used leave.
3. Follow the next steps in our paid sick leave guide, and get advice before the one-year retaliation deadline.

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Frequently asked questions

How many sick days does Labor Code 246 give me?

You earn at least one hour for every 30 hours worked, and your employer must let you use at least 40 hours or five days a year. Accrual can be capped at 80 hours or 10 days.

Can my employer require a doctor’s note?

The statute doesn’t authorize a note requirement, and the Labor Commissioner says an employer generally can’t deny leave just because you didn’t provide one. It may ask for documentation in some cases where it has information suggesting the leave isn’t for a valid purpose.

Can I use paid sick leave for jury duty?

Yes. Since January 1, 2025, section 246.5 lets you use paid sick leave for jury service and for appearing in court as a subpoenaed witness. From January 1, 2026, victims of certain serious crimes and their family members can also use it to attend related court proceedings.

Can I be fired for calling in sick?

Not for using accrued paid sick leave for a covered reason. Section 246.5(c) bars retaliation, and discipline within 30 days of a complaint, cooperation in an investigation or opposition to a violation is presumed retaliatory unless the employer rebuts the presumption. See Labor Code 98.6 for related protections.

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Sources

• Labor Code 246 (California Legislative Information)
• Labor Code 246.5
• Labor Code 245.5
• Labor Code 247.5
• Labor Code 248.5
• Government Code 12945.8
• Labor Commissioner: Paid Sick Leave FAQs
• Labor Commissioner: New Wage Legislation 2026 (Dec. 31, 2025)

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