February 28, 2023
In California, employers are allowed to terminate employment without notice and for almost any reason. Dismissal resulting from excessive absences is legal in at-will employment states, especially since attendance is essential to job performance in most cases.
Despite the flexibility allowed by law, employees receive certain protections. In California, labor laws require all employers to provide paid sick leave to employees. All employees who have worked a minimum of 30 days in the past year are eligible to take paid sick leave.
California sick leave requirements
- Employees must accrue one hour of sick leave for every 30 hours worked.
- Employers can limit paid sick leave to 48 hours or six business days.
- Employers also have the right to limit the number of hours used to 3 days (24 hours) per year.
- Unused paid sick leave carries over from one year to the next.
- California law states that an employer cannot deny an employee the right to take sick leave, nor can it demote, fire, threaten to fire, suspend, or in any way discriminate against an employee who uses sick leave.
Family and Medical Leave Law
If an employee has used all of his sick time or has not been in a job long enough to get paid sick leave, he may be protected by the Family and Medical Leave Act (or FMLA), which gives employees the right to take 12 weeks of unpaid leave to address specific medical or family concerns, such as:
- A serious health condition
- Caring for a family member with a severe illness
- Caring for a new child
As with sick leave, laws prohibit employees from being punished or fired for using the FMLA. If you believe your employer terminated your employment because of taking paid sick leave or the Family and Medical Leave Act provided by state law, he might have a wrongful termination claim on his hands.
