Poster

Employers must post a required PSL poster, created by the Labor Commissioner:1

• The poster advises employees of sick leave rights.
• The poster needs to be posted in a conspicuous location.
• Willful failure to post can result in a penalty of one hundred dollars ($100) for each offense.

• CalChamber’s 2026 California and Federal Labor Law Poster contains the PSL poster prepared by the California Labor Commissioner.

Notice to Employees

Employers also need to provide written notice of PSL information to all new hires and existing employees. The Wage and Employment Notice to Employees (Labor Code section 2810.5), contains information about an employee’s right to accrue and use PSL and about employee protections under the mandate.

Provide all new hires with the Wage and Employment Notice to Employees (Labor Code section 2810.5) at the time of hire. Labor Code section 2810.5 applies only to nonexempt employees. The Labor Commissioner has stated, however, that employers are encouraged to ensure that all employees are aware of the employer’s PSL policy.

This notice is sometimes referred to as the “wage theft” notice. For more information, see ”Providing Wage Information Upon Hire” in New Employee Orientation.

• Wage and Employment Notice to Employees (Labor Code section 2810.5)
• Wage and Employment Notice to Employees (Labor Code section 2810.5) - Spanish

The form also contains a checkbox to inform the employee if the employer has an existing PSL or PTO policy that meets or exceeds the requirements of the PSL law.

If you change your PSL policy in the future, notify your employees. You can use a couple of methods to meet the requirement to provide notice of changes relating to PSL to existing employees:

• You can use the Wage and Employment Notice to Employees (Labor Code section 2810.5) provided by the Labor Commissioner and available on HRCalifornia.
• You can use a separate written document that contains all of the required information about PSL.
• You can reflect all changes on an itemized wage statement that’s issued in a timely manner.

If you use a written document other than the notice created by the Labor Commissioner, you must make certain that the document summarizes your existing policy and demonstrates how you intend to meet the requirements of the PSL law for the particular employee. A best practice, according to the Labor Commissioner, is to include the specific points of information that are contained in the wage notice form.

The document must state that an employee:

• May accrue and use sick leave;
• Has a right to request and use accrued PSL;
• May not be terminated or retaliated against for using or requesting the use of PSL; and
• Has the right to file a complaint against an employer who retaliates.

• If you use a written document other than the notice provided by the Labor Commissioner, have that document reviewed by your attorney.

Payday Notice

You must provide an employee with a written notice setting forth the amount of PSL available to the employee each pay period.2 You can provide this notice to the employee either:

• On the already required itemized wage statement; or
• In a separate writing provided to the employee with the payment of wages.

Employers should verify that their itemized wage statements provide this information about sick leave (for more information, see “Itemized Wage Statement” in Form of Wage Payment). If you instead choose to develop and provide a separate notice with payment of wages, you may want to consult with legal counsel to make sure it meets the legal requirements.

Employers with unlimited PSL or paid time off policies can meet the payday notice requirement by indicating “unlimited” on either the itemized wage statement or the separate notice.

For more information, see “Unlimited Vacation Policies” in Vacation.

Recordkeeping

You must keep records for at least three years that document the:

• Number of hours that the employee worked;
• Paid sick days accrued by an employee; and
• Paid sick days used by an employee.

If an employer does not keep adequate records, there is a presumption that the employee is entitled to the maximum number of hours accruable unless the employer can show otherwise by clear and convincing evidence.

The records must be available for inspection by the Labor Commissioner. The records must also be available for inspection by the employee upon reasonable request, as with other payroll records. For more information, see Access to Payroll File.

• Ensure that payroll and recordkeeping systems properly calculate, track, and record paid sick time. You will also want to make sure that you have met all of the notice requirements.

The following chart discusses tracking obligations:

*The law states that an employer is not obligated to inquire into or record the purposes for which an employee uses paid time off.3 However, if you have a PTO policy, it may be a best practice to track when employees use PTO for a reason that qualifies for protection under the PSL law. This is especially true if you have an attendance discipline policy — to ensure that you do not discipline employees for taking protected leave.

1. Lab. Code sec. 247