



This waiting period can range anywhere from 30 days up until a year into employment.Īs strange as it may sound, employers are also allowed to give groups of employees paid time off or vacation days, but not other groups. For example, if the company has paid time off or vacation policy that gives the employee 10 days vacation or PTO each year, the employee will have accrued five of those days after they have been employed for six months.Įmployers in this state are allowed to designate waiting periods at the beginning of a person’s employment before their PTO or vacation time accrues. When employers do offer vacation time or pay time off, this will typically accrue over time as the employee works for the employer. In this state, all employers are required to provide a minimum number of paid sick days each year to their workers. Under California regulations, sick leave is not considered the same thing as PTO or vacation days. This means that any accrued paid time off or vacation days cannot expire, and they have to be paid out to an employee if the employee leaves the job (whether through termination or any other type of separation). Employers who choose to offer vacation and paid time off need to be aware that California law considers accrued vacation to be a form of wages that have already been earned by the worker. Just because employers are not required to provide time off does not mean that there are no regulations so those who do offer this time. Here, our Orange County employment attorneys discuss the guidelines that employers do have to follow if they choose to offer paid time off or vacation days to their employees. That being said, a growing number of employees in the state are beginning to realize the benefits of various types of time off for their workers. In this state, we need to point out that employers are not required to provide any paid vacation or PTO for their employees. However, we know that many individuals may not quite understand the laws surrounding PTO in California. Most people are familiar with the term paid time off or PTO.
