On January 12, 2007, we circulated an email describing the more notable issues raised by San Francisco’s new Paid Sick Leave ordinance (“PSL”). As you may recall, the PSL went into effect on February 5, 2007. Shortly after the effective date, however, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors established a Transition Period (through June 5, 2007) and provided that (1) employers could delay payment of required paid sick leave until June 6, 2007, and (2) administrative penalties, compensatory costs to the City, liquidated damages, and attorneys’ fees would not be awarded for a failure to pay required sick leave during the Transition Period.
One of the purposes of the Transition Period was to allow the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (“OLSE”) time to promulgate rules clarifying and implementing the PSL. Yesterday, the OLSE posted its initial eight rules, a copy of which are attached to this email. The most notable issues resolved by the rules include:
> Exempt Employees — For an exempt employee, paid sick leave accrues based upon a 40-hour work week, absent evidence that the employee’s regular work week is less than 40 hours. An exempt employee’s hourly sick leave rate of pay is the weekly salary divided by 40 hours, absent evidence that the employee’s regular work week is less than 40 hours.
> Non-Exempt Piece Rate / Commission Employees — For employees paid by a piece rate or by commission, the hourly sick leave rate of pay is calculated by dividing total earnings for the prior calendar year by total hours worked during the prior calendar year. In making these calculations, employers are not required to pay an hourly rate greater than two times the San Francisco minimum wage.
> Employee Notification of Paid Sick Leave Use — Employers may develop reasonable policies or practices requiring notification of the need for an unforeseeable use of paid sick leave. An advance notification requirement of greater than two hours will be presumptively unreasonable.
> Verification of Paid Sick Leave Use — Policies or practices that require a doctor’s note or other medical documentation for the use of paid sick leave for three or fewer consecutive work days shall be deemed unreasonable.
> Limited San Francisco Work Schedules — Employees who occasionally perform work in San Francisco are only covered by the PSL if they perform 56 or more hours of work in San Francisco within a calendar year.
Paid Sickleave Rules
Frequently Asked Questions
