Alert: Important Changes in Sick Leave Policies Mandated for San Francisco Workers

November 09, 2006

Single workers now allowed to designate unrelated individual in lieu of spouse/domestic partner

Employers with workers within the city limits of San Francisco will likely need to revise their sick leave policies to insure compliance with the new requirements passed by San Francisco voters on Tuesday.  Proposition F requires payment of sick leave to all employees working within the San Francisco city limits beginning February 5, 2007. 

Under the new ordinance, employees must accrue at least one hour of sick leave for every thirty hours worked.  Businesses with fewer than 10 employees may cap accrued sick leave at five sick days per year, and businesses with 10 or more employees may cap accrued sick leave at nine sick days per year.  Accrued sick leave carries over from year to year, subject to the aforementioned caps.  Existing unrestricted paid time off policies can be used to satisfy the new requirements, but employers must offer at least the minimum amount of paid time off required under the new ordinance.

Employees may take this newly mandated paid sick leave for their own illness or treatment, to care for an ill family member, or to take a family member to medical appointments.  Covered family members include children, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, spouses and registered domestic partners.  Importantly, single employees may designate one unrelated person in lieu of a spouse or domestic partner, and may use their sick days to care for that person.  However, the employee must make the designation when sick leave first begins accruing, and can only change that designation once annually.  

Employees hired on or before February 5, 2007 begin to accrue this newly mandated sick leave on that date.  Employees hired after February 5, 2007, begin accruing sick leave 90 days after their hire date.  Unlike vacation pay, sick leave need not be cashed out upon separation from employment.  Employers are required to maintain records of sick days accrued and used for at least four years.  They may use only reasonable measures to insure that sick days are being used for a lawful purpose.

The San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement is responsible for publishing multi-lingual notices advising employees of this right to sick leave.  Employers are required to post the notice at the worksite in English, Chinese, Spanish and any other language spoken by at least 5% of their workforce. 

Violations of the new ordinance are subject to various administrative and civil penalties, including monetary fines equal to three times the value of any sick leave unlawfully withheld, plus liquidated damages equal to $50 for each hour of sick leave withheld, in addition to attorney's fee and interest.

Employers with workers in San Francisco who do not presently offer sick leave or unrestricted paid time off to their employees, including temporary workers and part-time workers, will be required to implement policies providing for these new benefits.  Many employers who already maintain sick leave benefits will be required to review and revise those policies, to insure that they are providing benefits at least equal to those required by the ordinance.  Since very few employers allow single employees to use sick days to care for non-family members, it is likely that most employers will need to revise their current sick leave policies.