WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT HIRING SEASONAL WORKERS

Much has changed in recent years regarding seasonal employment law, and at Hackler Flynn, we wanted to be sure you were up to speed on the latest.

In the state of California, seasonal employees are vital to our economy, and many clients employ seasonal workers in the course of doing business. Seasonal employees are entitled to accrue Paid Sick Leave (PSL) if they work for you more than 30 hours a week. This law not only covers seasonal employees, like those employed in a garden center, or working at an amusement park. It also covers temporary, hourly, exempt and nonexempt workers.

What it means is that you, as the employer, are required to provide at least an hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours the employee has worked. According to California law, you cannot ask the employee for a doctor’s note, and cannot take any actions against your employee using their Paid Sick Leave.

If an employee is extremely healthy and does not need the time off, what then? It used to be, employees were in a ‘use it or lose it’ state, where sick days vanished at the start of the next calendar or fiscal year. In California, employers can put a cap on accrued sick leave at 48 hours, which employees can use in the future. So say your employee earned 24 hours of leave during the year: it can be rolled over into the next year. However, if employers provide the required 24 hours of sick leave in a lump sum at the beginning of each year, rollover is not required.

Is the Law True for Every Temporary Employee?
California law provides for some exceptions. There are some employees who are not entitled to sick leave, which include:
Construction employees
Home health care workers
Aviation cabin crew members from certain airlines
Workers who are under a collective bargaining agreement who earn more than 30% of California’s minimum wage
So What Do I Need to Do to Be in Compliance with the Law?
It’s important to comply with California law. Employers need to do several things in order to achieve it:
Give eligible employees a minimum of 24 hours of paid leave per year
Track and report employee sick leave on pay stubs so there is a concrete trail of time off
Give your employees a written copy of the California sick leave policy
Make sure you display a poster of the policy in a common area, such as a break room
Maintain sick leave records for at least three years

Is it Just For Personal Sick Leave?
No. Temporary and seasonal employees can use paid sick leave in order to care for sick family members. So if one of your workers has a child, a parent, a spouse or domestic partner, a sibling or grandchild, you are required to pay time off in order for your employee to provide care. In recent years, Paid Sick Leave can also be used for employees who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

If you’d like to know more detail about the rules for temporary workers in California, here is a list of what you should know.

At Hackler Flynn, we want to be sure you understand temporary and seasonal employment law, and stand ready to assist you in negotiating these ever-changing waters. Contact us to help you stay within the law and stay strong in your business!