California’s Kin Care Law: Using Sick Leave to Care for Family Members
California kin care law labor code refers to taking medical leave to take care of relatives. According to the California Labor Code, qualified workers are entitled to “Kin Care” benefits. Kin Care allows workers to utilize up to fifty percent (50%) of their annual sick leave to care for an ill family member.
Under Kin Care, workers do not accrue any additional sick time. Instead, time off for caring for a relative is shielded from being “counted against” an employee or used as a basis for disciplinary action related to absences. If nurses use up half of their sick time, they don’t get any more. To know in detail, read the full articles.
Overview of California Kin Care Law
It’s legal in California for workers to utilize up to half of their sick time to care for their immediate family members. Now let’s discuss the basic thumbs of the California kin care law labor code rule.
Amount of Leave
- The courts aren’t quite clear on whether Kin Care applies to paid time off (“PTO”) policies and vacation programs.
- One-half of an employee’s PTO must be made available for use by the employee for any of the approved reasons under the updated Kin Care statute.
- The updated Kin Care statute isn’t clear on whether or not it mandates that half of the accumulated vacation be made accessible for use if your firm offers a separate vacation and sick leave plan.
- Employers have no legal duty to provide employees with sick leave before accrual, but some do so voluntarily.
Permitted Reasons to Use Paid Sick Time
- For an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, and for the diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health condition of, or preventative care for.
- If an employee has sick leave available, the company cannot penalize or threaten to fire them for taking any amount of that leave, even if it’s just a few hours
- To be clear, the paid sick leave law does not “protect” any time off an employee takes for illness or related causes; rather, it “protects” only the person’s accrued and accessible paid sick leave.
Limits on Employer’s Ability to Restrict Sick Leave
The section that permitted employers to explicitly set limitations and restrictions on the use of sick leave by employees has been removed in the NEW version.
Can I use sick time to care for a parent in California?
You are eligible for paid sick leave if you are a victim of domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking and must take time off to care for yourself or a family member.
Conclusion
Hope you have got all the necessary information about California’s kin care law labor code. The “Kin Care” statute in California basically lets workers use up to half of their sick time on ill family members. If you are a human resources manager in California or elsewhere in the United States, you should know this regulation. If your company is considering moving to the Golden State, you must know this. Educate workers on their rights and remind employers of their legal responsibilities.
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