Seyfarth Synopsis: On October 1, 2017, after more than a year of waiting, the Berkeley, CA paid sick leave ordinance goes into effect. The ordinance provides extraordinarily generous paid sick leave benefits to employees beyond those provided by the California statewide paid sick leave law.
A little over a year ago, on August 31, 2016, the City of Berkeley, California
Continue Reading Another Case of Paid Sick Leave: BERKELEY Symptoms Begin Soon
Seyfarth Synopsis: While California courts have created annoying doctrines with respect to vacation pay, it remains the case that vacation pay is a matter of contract and that employers can avoid many problems with careful drafting of the vacation plan.
As we anticipate Labor Day weekend, note this mid-summer treat from the California Court of Appeal: its decision in
Continue Reading Put It In Writing: Policy Controls When Vacation Accrual Begins
Seyfarth Synopsis: After hitting some major roadblocks, the San Diego Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance has now been enacted. The Ordinance is to take effect this summer, most likely by the end of July. The Ordinance adds another perplexing piece to California’s paid sick leave patchwork.
After taking a nearly two-year hiatus, the San Diego Earned Sick
Continue Reading San Diego Voters Enact Paid Sick Leave, Higher Minimum Wage
Employers usually reserve the right to approve in advance when their employees can schedule requested vacation time. But can an employer with a garden-variety vacation/PTO policy (i.e., non-union, non-ERISA) ever require employees to use accrued vacation or PTO for an otherwise unpaid absence from work?
Consider the following commonly occurring scenarios:
1. Sally needs to take a leave of absence to care for her ailing father.
2. Mike needs to take a leave of absence to deal with his own disabling medical condition.
3. Pregnant employee, Marcia, just found out she is ordered to bed rest for the remainder of her pregnancy.
4. Frank announces his plan to retire. Then his supervisor makes her own announcement: Frank must use his vacation now, before his resignation is effective.
5. When the company closes for the last week of the year, all employees must use their vacation or PTO time.
Remember the Rules:
Contrary to what many employees believe, vacation or PTO is not an entitlement. It is a matter of agreement between the employer and the employee. So, the accrual and terms of use can generally be subject to whatever reasonable restrictions and requirements the employer’s policy provides. The key to validity here is the reasonableness of the restrictions.
Reasonable restrictions can be things like:
✓ Only full-time employees are eligible for vacation
✓ No one is eligible to accrue vacation until completing 90 days of employment
✓ Vacation can be taken in minimum increments of, say, 4 hours or 1 day
Continue Reading So Vacate Already! — When Can An Employer Force Employees To Take Paid Time Off?
While vacation time is not limited to the summer months, this is the traditional time for employees to vacate the workplace and get a little R&R. With visions of sun-drenched beaches, waterparks and road trips fresh in our minds, here is a reminder of the basic California rules on vacation, or paid time off. The rules are complex, and are different in more significant ways than just about anywhere else in the country, so knock the water out of your ears and pay close attention.
Q. What’s the difference between vacation and PTO (paid time off)?
In California, there is no difference. Any paid time off that can be used at the employee’s discretion and is not tied to a particular event (like your birthday) is considered vacation. This includes unrestricted “personal days” and “floating holidays.” They’re all vacation.
Q. Can an employer implement a “use-it-or-lose-it” policy for vacations?
No. Unlike most everywhere else, California law does not permit employers to require forfeiture of vested vacation if employees do not take the vacation during a prescribed time period. For example, it is not okay in California to have a policy that says “You get two (2) weeks of vacation a year, but if you don’t use it by December 31, it will be lost.” Here in California, rather than being lost, the vacation balance rolls over in its entirety.
Q. But, can an employer cap the amount of vacation time an employee accrues?
Yes. In order to prevent vacation accruing ad infinitum, employers have two potential tools.
One: Have a vacation accrual cap in place. That is, when an employee accrues a maximum amount of vacation (say 1.5 times the annual accrual rate), all accruals will stop until the employee uses some vacation and the vacation balance falls below the cap. The employer’s policy on vacation accrual caps must be carefully drafted so that an employee has a reasonable time to use accrued vacation. Simply capping at the annual rate of accrual is not a reasonable amount.
Two: Have a policy that mandates when vacation must be used (see next week’s post on this).
Q. Does an employer have to pay out vacation when an employee terminates?
Yes. In California, accrued vacation is treated the same as wages. If an employee has accrued but unused vacation at the time employment ends, it must be paid out at the employee’s final rate of pay.
Q. Can an employer decide not to provide vacation pay to some employees, such as probationary, part-time or temporary employees?