19.1     “New” Sick Leave Accrual:

Effective January 8, 2023, employees will accrue “new” sick leave at a rate of three and seven-tenths (3.7) hours per pay period. “New” sick leave will have no cash value and will not have conversion value for the purpose of sick leave conversion for retiree health coverage. Such accrual will be prorated for an employee who works less than full time during a pay period.

“New” sick leave can accrue up to a cap of nine hundred sixty (960) hours.

Employees represented by OSS who subsequently promote to, and retire from, an unrepresented management position will have unused, “new” sick leave (accrued since January 8, 2023) converted to “old” sick leave upon retirement.

19.2     “New” Sick Leave Usage:
Sick leave may be used in increments of six (6) minutes.
“New” sick leave, plus up to one hundred ninety-two (192) hours of “old” sick leave, is accrued paid leave from work that can be used for any of the following purposes:

A. Diagnosis, care, or treatment of an employee’s illness, injury, health condition, or exposure to contagious disease which incapacitates them from performance of duties. This includes disabilities caused or contributed to by pregnancy, miscarriage, abortion, childbirth, and recovery therefrom as determined by a licensed health care professional.

B. The employee’s receipt of preventative care or required medical or dental care or consultation.

C. The employee’s attendance, for the purpose of diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health condition of, or preventative care, on a member of the immediate family who is ill. For the purpose of this Section, immediate family means parent, spouse, registered domestic partner, child, stepchild, sibling, parent-in-law, grandparent or grandchild. The employee’s preparation for or attendance at the funeral of a member of the immediate family. For the purpose of preparation for or attendance at a funeral, immediate family also includes child-in-law, grandparent-in-law, and sibling-in-law.  Use of sick leave for this expanded definition is limited to a maximum of three (3) days if travel is required.

D. The employee’s attendance to an adoptive child or to a child born to the employee or the employee’s spouse or registered domestic partner for up to six (6) weeks immediately after the birth or arrival of the child in the home. Sick leave used concurrently with California Family Rights Act (CFRA) leave for the purpose of bonding following the birth, adoption or foster care placement of a child of the employee must be concluded within one (1) year of the birth or placement of the child. The basic minimum duration of such leave is two (2) weeks. However, an employee is entitled to leave for one of these purposes (e.g. bonding with a newborn) for less than two (2) weeks duration on any two (2) occasions.

E. An employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking may use up to one half (1/2) of their annual sick leave allotment to:

    1. Obtain or attempt to obtain a temporary restraining order or other court assistance to help ensure the health safety or welfare of the employee or their child; or
    2. Obtain medical attention or psychological counseling; services from a shelter; program or crisis center; or participate in safety planning or other actions to increase safety.

An employee may elect to use their full amount of “new” sick leave in advance of drawing on “old” sick leave accrued before January 8, 2023.

2017-06-19