Starting July 1, 2015, all California employers must offer paid sick leave to employees. So if you don’t have a paid sick leave policy in place, you’re breaking the law. Don’t worry—we’ll show you how to get up to speed in 5 easy steps, right after we take a look at the fine print.
The Fine Print:
The new law affects your company if you have one or more employees in California. Beginning July 1, 2015, all employees will accrue paid sick leave at a rate of at least 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. This applies to any employee, regardless of temporary, part-time or full-time status, as long as that employee has worked for at least 30 days in the State of California and at least 90 days for your startup.
5 Steps for a Startup to Get Into Compliance with the New Law:
1. Actually Change Your Sick Leave Policy to Satisfy the Requirement: It may sound obvious but the first thing you need to do is change your policy! You can front-load sick days at the beginning of the year or when a new employee is hired. Remember it is 1 hour of paid leave for every 30 hours worked.
2. Print & Post This Notice at Work: Print out this little slice of HR Compliance magic and post it in your workplace.
3. Fill Out & Send a 2180.5 Notice to Each Staff Member: Companies are required to provide employees a Labor Code 2180.5 Notice. Luckily we just gave you the link to the form. Note that most HR providers, like our favorite Zenefits, have a handy dandy workflow you can go through to automate the process for all of your employees.
4. Add Paid Sick Leave Information to Employee Pay Stubs: Companies must give employees a written statement of their balances. It’s easiest to do this on their pay stubs but there are other options like creating a manual tracking and notification system. This is easy to do with a good HR partner (Zenefits again) that integrates into a payroll system (Zenpayroll is our favorite).
5. Allow Employees to Use Their Sick Days: Startup employees are notoriously tough and dedicated, but even they get sick once in a while. Encourage your employees to use their paid sick leave when appropriate and your team will be happier and healthier.
Follow these 5 Steps and your startup will be HR compliant!
For More Information Please visit:
Frequently Asked Questions: About California’s New Paid Sick Leave Law (AB 1522)
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