Late last year, the City of West Hollywood passed a minimum wage and paid and unpaid leave ordinance. The ordinance requires at least 96 hours of paid leave and 80 hours of unpaid leave. The ordinance took effect January 1, 2022 for hotel workers and takes effect July 1, 2022 for all other workers.

Employer is defined as any person who directly or indirectly employs or exercises control over the wages, hours or working conditions of any employee. It does not apply to government employers.

Employee is defined as any person who works at least two hours per week in West Hollywood and is entitled to payment of the state minimum wage. An employee can use accrued paid or unpaid time off after the first six months of employment.

Employers shall provide at least 96 hours of paid time off per year for sick leave, vacation, or personal necessity to full time employees (defined as one who works at least 40 hours a week). Employers shall also provide at least 80 additional hours per year of unpaid time off to be used for sick leave for the illness of the employee or a member of his/her immediate family where the employee has exhausted his/her paid time off for that year. Employees that work less than 40 hours a week will receive paid and unpaid time off proportionate to time worked. An employer has the option to frontload the time off.

Unused accrued paid time off will carry over until a maximum of 192 hours is reached and unused accrued unpaid time off will carry over until a maximum of 80 hours is reached, unless the employer’s established policy is more generous.

After the maximum paid time off has been reached, an employer shall provide a cash payment once every thirty days for accrued paid time off over the maximum. An employer may offer but cannot require an employee to cash out a portion or all of the employee’s accrued paid time off.

Employers shall post in a conspicuous place at any workplace or job site where any employee works, the bulletin published each year by the City informing employees of the current minimum wage rate and of their rights under this chapter. Employers shall post notices in English, Spanish, and any other language spoken by at least five percent (5%) of the employees.

The ordinance provides a one-year waiver for businesses, with authorization from the City Manager, if the business can demonstrate that the ordinance would force the business to file bankruptcy or close, reduce its workforce by 20%, or reduce its employees’ hours by more than 30%.

The bulletin as well as FAQs can be found on the City of West Hollywood’s website.

This ordinance needs to be coordinated with the various other California leave laws.

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