The city of San Diego has enacted a new Earned Sick Leave and Minimum Wage Ordinance that provides employees working in the City of San Diego with certain paid sick leave usage rights. Key provisions of the ordinance are summarized below.

Sick time usage and accrual

• Under the ordinance, employees can use accrued sick leave hours for the following reasons:
• The employee is physically or mentally unable to perform his or her duties due to his or her own illness, injury, or medical condition.
• The employee’s absence is for the purpose of obtaining professional diagnosis or treatment for his or her own medical condition.
• The employee’s absence is for other medical reasons that he or she may have, such as the need to obtain a physical examination or due to pregnancy.
• The employee is providing care or assistance to a family member with an illness, injury, or medical condition, including assistance in obtaining professional diagnosis or treatment of a medical condition.
• The employee needs time away from work due to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking (Safe Time) to obtain medical attention, services from a victim services organization, counseling, relocation, or legal services.  
• The employee is providing childcare or assistance to a child whose school or child care provider is closed by order of a public official due to a public health emergency.
• Employees shall accrue one hour of sick leave per every 30 hours worked.
• Employees may take up to 40 hours of sick leave in each consecutive 12-month period, as determined by Kaiser Permanente.
• Accrued, unused paid sick leave carries over to the following year of employment and may be capped at 80 hours.

Definition of a family member

Under the ordinance, the term “family member” has the same meaning as in the California Paid Sick Leave law; that is, any of the following:

• a child, including a biological, adopted, or foster child; a stepchild; a legal ward; a child of a domestic partner; or a child to whom the employee stands "in loco parentis"
• a biological, adoptive, or foster parent; a step-parent; a legal guardian; or a person who stood "in loco parentis" when the employee was a minor child
• a spouse
• a registered domestic partner
• a grandparent
• a grandchild
• a sibling
• a parent of a spouse

Additional rights

Under the law, you will not be subject to corrective action or disciplinary action, as applicable, for requesting, using, or complaining that you are not receiving paid sick leave under this ordinance. However, you may be subject to corrective action or disciplinary action, as applicable, if it is determined that you used paid sick leave for a non-qualifying purpose.
Kaiser Permanente is committed to complying with the law.

More information

For information about your Time Off benefits, including eligibility, accrual rates, account balance, and how changes in employment status affect your accrued time, see the Time Off section on the My Profile page.
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