Part-time employees in California may get vacation time.
While there are no California state laws or federal laws that require it, many employers provide vacation time for their part-time employees. Sometimes, it is even paid time off (PTO).
When employers do provide vacation time, the details about how vacation time accrues, how it can be used, and how it is paid are included in the:
- employment contract,
- employee handbook, or
- collective bargaining agreement if the workers are unionized.
If vacation pay is provided, the policies and practices must comply with California labor laws.
Note that full-time employees are also not entitled to vacation time (paid or unpaid) under California state and federal laws.
Why would an employer provide paid time off (PTO)?
Even though they are not legally required to provide vacation time, many California employers choose to do so for the following reasons:
- it promotes employee well-being,
- it can increase workplace productivity by keeping workers from getting burned out,
- it improves worker morale, and
- it can attract and keep better workers.
Compared to other states, California has some of the most generous and protective vacation laws.
What are the rules for the accrual of vacation days and sick leave?
Vacation leave
California is one of the few states that bans “use-it-or-lose-it” vacation time policies. However, according to the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), employers are allowed to cap vacation accrual to a set number of days of vacation.[1]
Under California vacation pay laws, vacation time is a type of wage that an employee can earn. Since vacation counts as a wage, employees are entitled to receive it in their final paycheck upon termination.[2]
Sick leave
Employers must give part-time employees at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. They begin accruing paid sick leave from their first day of work, though employers may limit their:
- use of paid sick leave to 40 hours (5 days) a year, and
- accrual of paid sick leave to 80 hours (10 days) a year.
Employers do not have to pay unused paid sick leave upon an employee’s termination. So unless an employer’s policy permits it, employees cannot “cash out” unused sick time.[3]
Additional resources
For more information, refer to the following:
- The effect of paid vacation on health: evidence from Sweden – Journal of Population Economics.
- Work Hours, Wages, and Vacation Leave – ILR Review article on how vacation can count as wages.
- Economic Analysis on Attributes of Workers and Method to Take Annual Paid Vacation – Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies.
- Vacation Pay: Theory vs. Practice – Compensation & Benefits Review article on the difference between vacation pay generally and how it works realistically.
- What’s the Difference? Paid Sick Leave, FMLA, and Paid Family and Medical Leave – Comparison by the U.S. Department of Labor.
[1] California Department of Industrial Relations, Vacation Time Frequently Asked Questions.
[2] California Labor Code 200 LAB. California Labor Code 227.3 LAB.
[3] Healthy Workplace Healthy Families Act of 2014 (HWHFA, a.k.a. “California’s permanent paid sick time law”), California Labor Code 245.
