New Year, New Leaves

Employers—it is time to pull out your handbooks and get ready for some major revisions to two leave laws for 2024: paid sick leave and bereavement leave. California employers must prepare for the mandatory paid sick leave increase to a full week, as well as a brand new bereavement leave for reproductive loss events. Keep reading below for key insights!

Mandatory Paid Sick Leave

SB 616 will increase mandatory paid sick leave from 3 days or 24 hours, to 5 days, or 40 hours as of January 1, 2024. For employers who use the accrual method, employees still accrue sick leave at a rate of one hour of PSL for every 30 hours worked; however, the cap on paid sick leave will increase from 6 days, or 48 hours, to 10 days or 80 hours. Employers may limit usage to 5 days or 40 hours in each year of employment, calendar year, or 12-month period.

It is not as common, but for employers who use an alternative accrual method (i.e., something other than one hour for every 30 hours worked), the employer must ensure that the employee accrues no less than 24 hours by the 120th calendar day of employment and that they also accrue at least 5 days or 40 hours by the 200th calendar day of employment or each calendar year.

All of the following rules still apply to PSL:

• All employers are covered, regardless of size
• Eligible employees are those who work 30 or more days for the employer
• PSL usage may be limited to employees who have completed 90 days of employment (if so, note this in your policy)
• Employees are protected from retaliation and qualifying sick leave absences should not be counted against attendance. Also, it is not recommended to request a medical note when employees use mandatory sick leave.
• Available paid sick leave must be reflected on the employee’s pay stub every pay day.

Reproductive Loss Bereavement Leave

Last year, it became mandatory for California employers (with 5 or more employees) to provide bereavement leave upon the death of a covered family member. Now, in 2024, employees may also take up to 5 days of bereavement leave for a “reproductive loss event.”

Covered employers include all public employers and private employers with 5 or more employees. Eligible employees must have worked 30 or more days for the employer prior to the leave’s start.

A “reproductive loss event” is defined as:

• Failed Adoption: means the dissolution or breach of an adoption agreement with the birth mother or legal guardian, or an adoption that is not finalized because it is contested by another party. This event applies to a person who would have been a parent of the adoptee if the adoption had been completed.
• Failed Surrogacy: means the dissolution or breach of a surrogacy agreement, or a failed embryo transfer to the surrogate. This event applies to a person who would have been a parent of a child born as a result of surrogacy.
• Miscarriage: means a miscarriage by a person, by the person’s current spouse or domestic partner, or by another individual if the person would have been a parent of a child born as a result of the pregnancy.
• Stillbirth: means a stillbirth resulting from a person’s pregnancy, the pregnancy of a person’s current spouse or domestic partner, or another individual, if the person would have been a parent of a child born as a result of the pregnancy that ended in stillbirth.
• Unsuccessful Assisted Reproduction: means an unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or of an assisted reproductive technology procedure. This event applies to a person, the person’s current spouse or domestic partner, or another individual, if the person would have been a parent of a child born as a result of the pregnancy.

In most cases, employees have up to 3 months from the event date to use the leave. For a multiple-day event, the final day is considered the event date. Note that reproductive loss bereavement leave is separate and distinct from bereavement leave for family member deaths, as well as PDL and family and medical leave (CFRA).

The leave is unpaid and need not be consecutive, but employees may opt to use available accrued time, including paid sick leave. Confidentiality and non-retaliation protections apply.

For employers familiar with last year’s bereavement leave for family member deaths, there are some key differences with reproductive loss bereavement, including:

• While employees have up to 5 days for each reproductive loss event, employers may cap leave at 20 days in a 12-month period.
• Unlike bereavement leave, employers may not request certifying and/or medical documentation for this leave.

Employee Handbook and Other Changes

Practically speaking, what does this mean for California employers? We suggest you:

• Update your PSL and bereavement leave policies in your handbook
• Anticipate a PSL poster update
• Update Wage Theft Notices for non-exempt employees with the new paid sick leave entitlements
• Work with your payroll provider to ensure updated/accurate PSL amounts are listed on pay stubs for 2024
• Ensure your PSL systems are compliant for 2024. For the accrual method, have you altered usage and caps in your payroll system? For those using the lump sum method, have employees been furnished with enough time for 2024?
• Consider whether you will alter your vacation and/or paid holidays to account for the additional sick leave time