The following chart has been compiled to help you decide how to create your sick pay plan. IT contains most of the major parameters that are required in each state. However, this is only to provide quick information. This is not legal advice, and it is up to each employer to determine what is needed for their own sick pay plans.

State	Arizona	California	Michigan	Oregon	Washington
Effective Date	July 1, 2017	July 1, 2015	March 29, 2019	January 2016	January 1, 2018
Method	Accrual or Front Load	Lump Sumi or Accrual	Accrual or Front Load	Accrual or Front Load	Accrual or Front Load
Accrual Rate/ Lump Sum Amount	Accrual: 1 hour sick pay/ 30 hours worked Front Load: Large Companies (15 employees or more):40 hours Small Companies(14 employees or less): 24 hours	Accrual: 1 hour sick pay/ 30 hours worked Lump Sum: Employers can choose to give a lump sum of 3 days’ pay ii.	Accrual: 1 hour sick pay/ 35 hours worked Front Load: 40 hours, this amount can be prorated for new employees.	Accrual: 1 hour sick pay/ 30 hours worked Front Load: 40 hours	Accrual: 1 hour sick pay/40 hours worked Front Load: No specific amount is stated, but any amount front loaded must meet the same standards as accruing.
Waiting Period to Accrue	None: Either from July 1, 2017 or on their hire date, whichever one is later.	None: Legally, each employee starts accruing as soon as they start working.	None: Time begins to accrue on the effective date or date of hire, whichever is later.	None	None
Maximum Waiting Period to Pay	If the employee was hired after July 1, 2017, employees can institute a 90-day waiting period.	Employers can institute up to a 90-day waiting period.	Employers can institute up to a 90-day waiting period.	Employers can institute up to a 90-day waiting period.	Employers can institute up to a 90-day waiting period.
Discard Sick Pay Accrual After… iii	9 Months	12 Months	There is no time-frame for this state.	180 Days	12 Months
Sick Pay Accrual Cap	Large companies: Capped at 40 hours/year. Small companies: Capped at 24 hours a year.	The lowest employers can limit accrual to is 48 hours or 6 days’ pay ii	The lowest employers can limit accrual is 40 hours per benefit year. Employers can limit accrual to 1 hour per week.	The lowest employers can limit accrual is 40 hours a year.	No accrual cap is instituted, however only 40 hours can be carried over to the next year.
Sick Pay USE cap	Large companies: 40 hours/year. Small companies: 24 hours a year.	As low as 3 days/year	As low as 40 hours/year	As low as 40 hours/year	No cap defined (pending final ruling)
How to Calculate Pay Rate for Sick Pay	See footnoteiv	Calculate the regular, non-overtime rate of pay for the workweek in which they used paid sick leave, whether or not they actually worked overtime in that workweek or divide the total compensation for the previous 90 days (excluding overtime premium pay) by the total number of non-overtime hours worked in the full pay periods of the prior 90 days of employment	The Act requires an employer to pay an employee at a pay rate equal to the “greater of either the normal hourly wage or base wage for that eligible employee or the minimum wage rate” ($9.45/hour as of 03/29/19). An employer is not required to include overtime pay, holiday pay, bonuses, commission, supplemental pay, piece rate pay or gratuities in this calculation.	The wages the employee would have been paid, if known, for the period of time in which sick time is used; or the weighted average of all regular rates of pay during the previous pay period.	For each hour of paid sick leave used, an employee shall be paid the greater of the minimum hourly wage rate Or his/her normal hourly compensation.
Website Links	Arizona Sick Pay FAQ	California Sick Pay FAQ	Michigan Sick Pay FAQ   Michigan Sick Pay Summary	Oregon Sick Pay FAQ	Washington Sick Pay FAQ

The information presented in this document should not be construed as legal, accounting or tax advice.  Our employees are not accountants or lawyers and they also do not provide accounting, tax or legal advice. You should consult with a professional advisor familiar with your particular factual situation for advice concerning specific accounting, tax or legal matters before making any decisions.

ⁱ Lump Sum is paying the equivalent of what the employee will accrue at the beginning of the year. Very similar to the “Front Load” options in other states. The terms “Frontload” and “Lump Sum” are used interchangeably in this document and in our program.

ⁱⁱ California law states that the employee is entitled to 3 days’ sick pay (Minimum of 24 hours). It commonly uses the phrases such as “24 hours or 3 days.” According to the DLSE Opinion letter of 08/07/2015 (An official response from the state government), those phrases mean whichever is more. Most times this is 24 hours, however, if an employee works longer than 8-hour days on average, they are entitled to more sick pay. For example, if an employee works 10 hours/day, they are entitled to 30 hours of sick pay.

ⁱⁱⁱ If employment is resumed within this time frame, the sick pay is also reinstated as if the employee hadn’t left.

^iv Taken from the Arizona State Website: “In the absence of statutory and judicial guidance, the Industrial Commission is proposing rules consistent with the following methods for determining hourly wage rate:

• For employees with a single hourly rate. For employees paid on the basis of a single hourly rate, an employer is required to pay the employee the same hourly rate that the employee would have earned for the period of time in which sick time is used. For example, if an employee’s hourly rate is $15 per hour, the employer is required to pay the employee $15 for each hour of earned paid sick time.

• For employees with multiple hourly rates. If known, an employer is required to pay a multi-rate employee the actual hourly wages that the employee would have been paid for the period of time in which sick time is used. If unknown, an employer must pay an hourly rate equivalent to the weighted average of all hourly rates of pay during the previous pay period.  

• For salaried employees. Employers must pay a salaried employee an hourly rate equal to the employee’s total wages earned during the pay period covered by the salary divided by the number of hours agreed to be worked in the pay period for which the salary is intended to compensate. If a salaried employee’s hours of work vary from work week to work week, for the purpose of calculating the same hourly rate to be used for the payment of earned paid sick time, the employee is presumed to work 40 hours per workweek.

• For commissioned, piece-rate, or fee-for-service employees. Such employees’ hourly rates are determined in the following order of priority:

1. The hourly rate of pay agreed upon by the employer and the employee, if an hourly rate of pay was previously established.

2. The wages that the employee would have been paid, if known, for the period of time in which earned paid sick time is used.

3. A reasonable estimation of the wages that the employee would have been paid for the period of time in which the earned paid sick time is used.

4. The weighted average of all hourly rates of pay during the previous 90 days, if the employee worked regularly during the previous 90-day period.”