San Francisco Mandates Paid Sick Leave

Employers within the City of San Francisco are trying to understand the implications of the new paid sick leave ordinance (Proposition F) passed by city voters last month.

The new law goes into effect February 5 and requires that all employers with 10 or fewer workers doing business within the city limits to offer as many as five paid sick days per year per employee. (Larger employers pay up to 9 days per year.) Employees accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked, according to the ordinance.

Does the Paid Sick Leave Ordinance apply to Household Employers?

This question, along with many others, remains to be clarified. Proposition F clearly states it applies to all employers doing businesses in San Francisco; household employers are not businesses in the commonly understood sense. However, household employers do register with the State of California as employers, and are covered by state unemployment and disability insurance laws. The Minimum Wage Ordinance, enacted in 2004, defines a "small business" as "an employer for which fewer than ten (10) persons perform work for compensation within a given week." This definition, if applied to Proposition F, would seem to include household employers. The legislative intent was to apply the ordinance to ALL WORKERS within the City of San Francisco (See Paid Sick Leave Ordinance.)

Other open questions include how to track accrued sick leave for salaried workers who don't necessarily track their time precisely, particularly those (such as nannies) who might work more than 40 hours in a work week.

San Francisco has a history of using public policy to mandate minimum worker rights. In 2004, voters approved a minimum wage statue (currently $8.82/hour) that is among the highest in the country.