An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 8 – Leaves And Absences

C HAPTER 8 – L EAVES A ND A BSENCES

Section 1 I NTRODUCTION It is a full time job just to list the leaves available to California employees, let alone administer them. For example, California employees are entitled to family and medical leave, disability leave, California family sick leave, California pregnancy disability leave, paid family leave, military leave, leave to appear at a child’s school, leave for victims of domestic violence, leave for jury duty and court appearances, and time off to vote, among others. To complicate matters, many, but not all, of the leaves run concurrently. Several of the leaves share definitions and eligibility criteria – but they also carve out exceptions unique to that particular leave. While a general understanding of the leave laws is essential to navigating these leave rights, its application is highly fact specific. This chapter addresses each leave separately, flagging concurrent leave issues as they arise. Eligibility criteria, computation issues, definitions of key terms, and practice tips for administration are all addressed. P AID S ICK L EAVE There are two California laws regarding sick leave which are important for Schools. The first is the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (“Paid Sick Leave law”), which requires employers to provide a minimum amount of paid sick leave to most employees. 1044 The law also mandates certain allowed uses of this leave. The second law is Labor Code section 233 – commonly referred to as Kin Care Leave or Family Sick Leave. This law does not require employers to provide paid sick leave, but it does mandate that employees be able to use some of their paid sick leave, if provided, for close family members’ illnesses or medical treatment or, as recently amended, for all purposes stated under the Paid Sick Leave Law. This section will discuss the legal requirements for both laws. A. P AID S ICK L EAVE L AW 1. E LIGIBILITY Effective July 1, 2015, all employees in California, including temporary, part-time and seasonal employees, are eligible for paid sick leave once they have worked for an employer for 30 or more days within one year of the commencement of their employment. 1045 Employees must accrue paid sick leave at the rate of at least one hour for every 30 hours worked – beginning on the first date of employment or July 1, 2015, whichever is later. 1046 An employer may use a Section 2

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