California Labor Code section 246 requires employers to provide 40 hours or five days of paid sick leave annually after 30 days of employment. Riverside County follows the statewide standard with no additional county sick-leave ordinance.
The Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act, expanded by SB 616 effective 2024, requires California employers to provide at least 40 hours or five days of paid sick leave per year, whichever is greater. Employees accrue one hour per 30 hours worked or receive a frontloaded grant. Leave covers diagnosis, preventive care, family member illness, and certain domestic-violence situations. Riverside County, as a general-law county, has not enacted a separate sick-leave ordinance, so unincorporated-area workers rely on state law. Employers must display the wage-and-hour poster and itemize available sick leave on pay stubs.
Denying lawful sick leave triggers Labor Commissioner enforcement, reinstatement of leave hours, $4,000 maximum civil penalty, and possible PAGA representative claims by employees.
See how Palm Springs's paid leave preemption rules stack up against other locations.
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