Labor Code section 230.8 currently requires employers with 25 or more employees to allow an employee to take off up to 40 hours per year (up to 8 hours/month) for “child-related activities” if the employee is a parent with one or more children attending kindergarten, grades 1 to 12, or is at a licensed child care provider. Revisions to the California Labor Code section 233 (“Kin Care”) took effect on January 1, 2016. Employers are prohibited from denying an employee the right to use one-half of their annual accrual of sick leave or PTO to care for such covered family members or discharging, threatening to discharge, demoting, suspending, or in any manner discriminating against an employee for using, or attempting to exercise the right to use sick leave in such a manner. For example, the Paid Sick Leave law provides an employee the ability to take sick leave to care for a broader definition of “family member,” including parent, child, spouse, registered domestic partner AND parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, and sibling. What types of leave are provided in California? Following the implementation of SB 579’s modifications to Labor Code 233, it will continue to be unlawful to discriminate or retaliate against an employee who uses Protected Sick Leave. These revisions eliminate inconsistencies between Kin Care and California’s new Paid. To receive these Special Bulletins on the day they are released, please send your email address to info@lcwlegal.com. California Kin Care Law. It’s been more than 10 years since California enacted Labor Code § 233, commonly referred to as the “kin care” statute.In essence, the statute requires employers to allow employees to use half of their sick leave accrual to care for certain relatives if they become ill. The statute defines "sick leave" as "accrued increments … The end result of reading the current Paid Sick Leave law and Kin Care obligations together is that an employee’s use of covered paid sick leave to care for a family member pursuant to the Paid Sick Leave law does not necessarily count towards the employee’s Kin Care entitlement – rather, it will depend on which family member the employee is caring for. For example, if an employer provides 12 days of paid sick leave, the employer must allow employees to use at least 6 days of paid sick leave to care for an ill family member, subject to the same terms and conditions for an employee’s own sick leave use. As noted in the new Labor Code section 233(c): (c) An employer shall not deny an employee the right to use sick leave or discharge, threaten to discharge, demote, suspend, or in any manner discriminate against an employee for using, or attempting to exercise the right to use, sick leave to attend to an illness or the preventive care of a family member, or for any other reason specified in subdivision (a) of Section 246.5. The California paid sick leave law, known as the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, required employers to provide paid sick leave beginning on July 1, 2015. (a) Any employer who provides sick leave for employees shall permit an employee to use in any calendar year the employee’s accrued and available sick leave entitlement, in an amount not less than the sick leave that would be accrued during six months at the employee’s then current rate of entitlement, for the reasons specified in subdivision (a) of Section 246.5. Before passing the statewide Paid Sick Leave law, California had in place the “Kin Care” law (Labor Code §233). The major impact here will be an employee’s protection from disciplinary action or other adverse employment action based on their use of sick leave or PTO that falls under the Protected Sick Leave provisions of Labor Code section 233. CA Labor Code § 233 (2017) (a) Any employer who provides sick leave for employees shall permit an employee to use in any calendar year the employee’s accrued and available sick leave entitlement, in an amount not less than the sick leave that would be accrued during six months at the employee’s then current rate of entitlement, for the reasons specified in subdivision (a) of Section 246.5. Note: California Supreme Court Rules "Kin Care" Law Inapplicable to Leave Plans Providing Unlimited or Uncapped Paid Sick Time. “Family member” for purposes of kin care is defined by Labor Code §§ 233 and 245.5(c) to include an employee’s child, parent or guardian, spouse or registered domestic partner, grandchild, grandparent, and sibling. This allows employees to use up to half of their sick leave for specific family members as defined by California law. does … Under this law, no employer in California can deny an employee the right to use their sick leave entitlement to attend to the illness or preventative care of a family member. These revisions eliminate inconsistencies between Kin Care and California’s new Paid Sick Leave (“PSL”) law, which went into full effect on July 1, 2015. Currently, Labor Code section 233 does not affect an employer’s right to request a doctor’s note to verify the need for sick leave to care for a parent, child, spouse, or registered domestic partner to the extent that the employer’s policy has such a requirement otherwise for the employee’s own sick leave use. Potential Limitation on Ability to Seek Doctor’s Notes for Sick Leave Absences Covered by the Protected Sick Leave Provisions. The statute defines "sick leave" as "accrued increments … b. Under the existing Kin Care law, California employers who provide paid sick leave or PTO to employees are required to allow an employee to take up to one-half of his/her annual accrual of such sick leave/PTO to attend to the illness for the following family members:  parent, child, spouse, or registered domestic partner. ... AB 2017, Mullin. California's kin care law, Labor Code section 233, requires that any employer who provides sick leave for employees shall permit an employee to use a portion of his or her sick leave to care for a covered relative. Therefore, the employer may not designate sick leave as Kin Care leave by itself in order to quickly deplete the Kin Care leave available. The law also includes leave to address a child care provider or school emergency, including a request that the child be picked up from school/child care, behavioral/discipline problems, closure or unexpected unavailability of the school (excluding planned holidays), or a natural disaster. EXAMPLE:  An employer provides 10 days of paid sick leave a year and their policy provides that they can request a doctor’s note to verify sick leave use. Review policies and practices related to excessive absenteeism, performance evaluations, and any other disciplinary/adverse employment action to ensure that an employee’s use of sick leave or PTO for Protected Sick Leave purposes are not factored into any such actions. For example, under these current laws, an employee may use the Paid Sick Leave law to care for a parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling, but such leave would not count as Kin Care leave for those family members. For purposes of the remainder of this article, we will use the term “Protected Sick Leave” when referring to the revised Labor Code section 233. The reason for concern here follows the recent interpretations the Labor Commissioner has made regarding the Paid Sick Leave law. One major benefit to employers of SB 579’s changes to Labor Code section 233 is that employers may no longer have to track the specific use of an employee’s paid sick leave or PTO to determine if it was used for the employee’s own illness or that of a covered family member. Read this complete California Code, Labor Code - LAB § 246.5 on Westlaw FindLaw Codes are provided courtesy of Thomson Reuters Westlaw, the industry-leading online legal research system . The only exception to this appears to be for the use of paid sick leave for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking as the Paid Sick Leave law references Labor Code sections 230 and 230.1, which do allow an employer to request certification for unscheduled absences. The Kin care law in California states employees can use half of the allotted sick time for kin care without discrimination or discipline. The covered employee is only allowed to take up to 40 hours per year of such leave in a year. LCW will provide updates on any such interpretations from the Labor Commissioner or any other governmental agency as they become available. California's kin care law, Labor Code section 233, requires that any employer who provides sick leave for employees shall permit an employee to use a portion of his or her sick leave to care for a covered relative. Beginning January 1, 2016, SB 579 modifies Labor Code section 230.8 as follows: The other provisions of Labor Code section 230.8 generally remain intact. The Paid Sick Leave law also points out that employers cannot deny an employee the right to use AB 1522 covered paid sick leave or retaliate against an employee for using such covered paid sick leave. Since 2000, California employers who have provided paid sick leave or PTO to employees must allow an employee to take up to one-half of an annual accrual such sick leave/PTO to care for a parent, child, spouse, or registered domestic partner. As a result, this begs the question of whether an employer can request a doctor’s note from an employee for use of Protected Sick Leave for one-half of the annual accrual of sick leave/PTO used in a year for these sick leave purposes. Labor Code section 234 provides that “[a]n employer absence control policy that counts sick leave taken pursuant … SB 579’s changes to the Kin Care law and the Child-Related Activities Leave law will have a major impact on the current policies and practices of most California employers. This new law provides that the designation of the sick leave taken under Labor Code section 233 is at the sole discretion of the employee. Sexual Harassment Training – Is Your Agency 2021 Ready? As a result, such Protected Sick Leave time should not be counted towards excessive absenteeism determinations, be referenced in performance evaluations, or used otherwise in any disciplinary/adverse employment actions. Generally, the law requires employers to provide at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, or a minimum annual lump sum of 24 hours. The diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health condition of, or preventive care for, an employee. Separately, Labor Code section 233 (commonly referred to as the “Kin Care” law) requires an employer to allow an employee to use accrued and “available” sick leave (which is the amount that would accrue during a six month period) for the purposes specified in the paid sick leave law. The diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health condition of, or preventive care for, an employee’s family member. In addition, employees must provide reasonable notice to their employer of the need for such child-related activities leave. While the Paid Sick Leave law is silent on whether employers can request verification of the need to use paid sick leave, it does require employers to provide an employee with paid sick days upon oral or written request (Labor Code section 246.5(a)) and allows an employee to determine how much paid sick leave he or she needs to use (Labor Code section 246(j)). As a result, the employer in this example will now have to wait until after an employee uses 5 days of sick leave before requiring a doctor’s note as provided in the employer’s policy. There are two other major impacts that SB 579’s new Protected Sick Leave provisions will have on employers: a. Attorney Advertising. For more detailed codes research information, including annotations and citations, please visit Westlaw . For most employers, the major impact of SB 579 will be on existing sick leave/PTO, Kin Care leave, and Child-Related Activities policies and practices. As always, fall was a busy time for California Governor Gavin Newsom as he signed into law a slew of new bills. June 27, 2008. Employers will need to make sure that their more generous sick leave/PTO polices allow employees to use at least one-half of their total annual accrual of paid sick leave for the now expanded Protected Sick Leave purposes. Employers should review their policies and practices related to Child-Related Activities and ensure that the changes to Labor Code 230.8 are implemented and applied to employee requests for such leave. The Kin Care Law, codified as Labor Code § 233, requires employers that pay sick leave to employees to allow employees to use up to a certain, limited amount of accrued sick leave to tend to ill … A family member is classed as: Kin care leave is time provided to employees to take time off from work to care for a family member. For more information or immediate guidance, contact: Goldberg Segalla is one of the largest and fastest-growing law firms headquartered in the United States, with a footprint that reaches from Los Angeles to Long Island. Specifically, under the existing Labor Code § 233, more commonly referred to as the “Kin Care” law, employers must allow employees to take up to half of their accrued sick leave to care for a family member (thus, “kin care”). To avoid confusion with existing state and federal family leave laws, Labor Code §233 is called "kin care… A. SB 579 Modifications to Kin Care Law (Labor Code section 233) Overview of Existing Law Under the existing Kin Care law, California employers who provide paid sick leave or PTO to employees are required to allow an employee to take up to one-half of his/her annual accrual of such sick leave/PTO to attend to the illness for the following family members: parent, child, spouse, or registered domestic … What is kin care leave? 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