Paid Sick Leave in the Public Sector: Impact of SB 616 on PSL Exemptions

2025 CALPELRA Annual Training Conference 
#CALPELRA2025: Moving Forward, Together 1975-2025 

California Public Employers Labor Relations Association (CALPELRA)'s 2025 Annual Training Conference, the 50th annual CALPELRA conference, will be held in beautiful Monterey, California, the week of November 18 - 21.

AALRR partners Irma Rodriguez Moisa and Eric Riss are scheduled to speak at the 2025 CALPELRA Annual Training Conference. They will present...

Paid Sick Leave in the Public Sector: Impact of SB 616 on PSL Exemptions

Paid sick leave benefits have been a feature in California for over a decade, since AB 1522’s adoption. Employers in the public sector have largely avoided the detailed statutory requirements tied to paid sick leave, by relying on an exemption available for employees covered by a collective bargaining agreement. However, this landscape changed in both clear and subtle ways when California revised paid sick leave laws in late 2023 through Senate Bill 616. Some of these changes are obvious, including raising the minimum amount of paid sick leave that must be provided to covered employers. However, SB 616 also impacted the reach of the MOU-based exemption for public employers, and exposed them for the first time to requirements within this statutory scheme. This session will overview the impact of SB 616 on public employers, and detail those pieces of state law that are newly applicable to employers relying on the MOU exemption. In particular, our session will consider the drastic impact this law has on public sector attendance policies, and how to navigate the risks posed by this shift.

Click HERE for more information.