California Labor Code Section 233, commonly called the Kin Care law, lets any employee with accrued paid sick leave use at least half of that leave each year to care for a family member, on the same terms as sick leave taken for the employee’s own health. It does not create new leave. It unlocks leave you have already earned.
Who Section 233 Covers
Every California employer that provides paid sick leave must comply, whether the leave is offered voluntarily or to satisfy the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act. Size does not matter, and government employers are included.1California Legislative Information. California Code LAB – Section 233 If your employer gives you a measurable, banked amount of sick time, Kin Care attaches to it.
You decide when to designate a sick day as Kin Care. An employer cannot override that choice or force you to burn a different type of leave first.1California Legislative Information. California Code LAB – Section 233 That sole-discretion rule is one of the statute’s strongest protections.
How Much Sick Leave You Can Use for Family
The law guarantees you can use at least the amount of sick leave you would accrue over six months at your current rate.1California Legislative Information. California Code LAB – Section 233 For most employees accruing at a steady pace, that comes out to roughly half of the yearly accrual.
Since January 1, 2024, California employers must provide at least 40 hours (five days) of paid sick leave per year.2California Department of Industrial Relations. California Paid Sick Leave: Frequently Asked Questions An employee accruing at the statutory minimum of one hour per 30 hours worked builds up about 20 hours over six months of full-time work, so 20 hours is the Kin Care floor for that worker. A more generous accrual rate produces a proportionally larger Kin Care entitlement, because the calculation always tracks your own rate.
Employers may cap total accrual at 80 hours and limit annual use to 40 hours, but those caps apply to all sick leave combined, personal and Kin Care.3California Legislative Information. California Code LAB – Section 246 An employer cannot slap a separate, lower cap on the family-care portion below the six-month guarantee.
Combined PTO and Unlimited Time Off
Kin Care applies when the employer provides a measurable, accrual-based bank of sick leave.1California Legislative Information. California Code LAB – Section 233 If you have a combined PTO bank that tracks accrued hours, the Kin Care rule reaches the sick-leave portion of it. Under an unlimited or uncapped policy with no accrual tracking, there is no measurable accrued amount, so Section 233 may not attach the same way, though California’s underlying paid sick leave requirement still applies.
What You Can Use Kin Care For
Kin Care covers the same reasons the paid sick leave statute covers when applied to a family member: diagnosis, treatment of an existing condition, and preventive care such as annual checkups or vaccinations.2California Department of Industrial Relations. California Paid Sick Leave: Frequently Asked Questions A child’s fever, a parent’s medical appointment, or a spouse’s recovery from surgery all qualify.
Who Counts as a Family Member
Section 233 borrows the family definition in Labor Code Section 245.5, which reaches further than most employees realize:4California Legislative Information. California Code LAB – Section 245.5
- A biological, adopted, foster, or stepchild, a legal ward, or a child you stand in loco parentis to, regardless of age or dependency.
- A biological, adoptive, or foster parent, stepparent, legal guardian, someone who stood in loco parentis when you were a minor, or a parent of your spouse or registered domestic partner.
- A spouse or registered domestic partner.
- A grandparent.
- A grandchild.
- A sibling.
- A designated person, meaning someone whose relationship with you is like a family relationship even without a blood or legal tie. You identify this person at the time you request leave.
The designated-person category was added in 2023 by Assembly Bill 1041, which amended Section 245.5. Because Section 233 pulls its definition from that statute, the expansion applies automatically. A close friend who functions as family, or a long-term partner outside marriage, can qualify.
Notice and Documentation
Whatever call-in procedure, advance-notice rule, or doctor’s-note requirement your employer applies to personal sick days applies to Kin Care too, and nothing more. Your employer cannot demand a detailed diagnosis for your family member that it would not demand for you.
Any medical information the employer does collect must be kept confidential and separate from personnel files under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and can be shared only with a narrow group such as supervisors arranging coverage or safety staff.5U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on Disability-Related Inquiries and Medical Examinations of Employees Under the ADA
For foreseeable needs like a scheduled surgery, give notice under your employer’s normal policy. For emergencies, notify your employer as soon as reasonably possible, the same way you would for your own sudden illness.
Retaliation and Attendance Policies
Section 233 bars employers from firing, threatening, demoting, suspending, or otherwise punishing an employee for using or attempting to use Kin Care leave.1California Legislative Information. California Code LAB – Section 233 Section 234 goes further. Any attendance or absence-control policy that counts Kin Care leave as an occurrence leading to discipline is automatically a violation, and no proof of intent is required.6California Legislative Information. California Code LAB – Section 234 A no-fault points system that assigns an occurrence for every absence, without excluding Kin Care, violates Section 234 on its face.
How Kin Care Fits With CFRA and FMLA
Section 233 states expressly that it does not extend the maximum leave period under the California Family Rights Act or the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.1California Legislative Information. California Code LAB – Section 233 The two systems overlap but do different things.
CFRA and FMLA give up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for serious health conditions, but that leave is unpaid unless you substitute accrued paid time, and employers may require you to use paid sick leave concurrently.7U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Frequently Asked Questions Kin Care only covers the sick days you have banked; once that bank is empty, Kin Care adds nothing. FMLA also requires 1,250 hours worked over the past 12 months for an employer with 50 or more employees within 75 miles.8U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #28: The Family and Medical Leave Act Kin Care has no such thresholds beyond having accrued sick leave, so it reaches employees who would not qualify for CFRA or FMLA at all.
If Your Employer Violates Section 233
The California Labor Commissioner’s Office enforces the statute. If your employer denies a valid Kin Care request, retaliates against you, or penalizes the absence under an attendance policy, you can file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner or bring a civil lawsuit.2California Department of Industrial Relations. California Paid Sick Leave: Frequently Asked Questions
Available remedies include reinstatement if you were fired or demoted, recovery of actual damages or one day’s pay (whichever is greater), and other equitable relief.1California Legislative Information. California Code LAB – Section 233 A successful civil plaintiff can also recover reasonable attorney’s fees. The one-day-pay floor matters when actual losses are hard to quantify: the statute guarantees a minimum recovery even if you cannot prove larger damages. And because Section 234 treats penalizing attendance policies as automatic violations, those cases often do not turn on the employer’s motive at all.6California Legislative Information. California Code LAB – Section 234