Does California Sick Time Roll Over Each Year?

Yes, California sick time does roll over from one year to the next under the standard accrual method, but with two important limits: your employer can cap your total accrued balance at 80 hours and can limit how much you actually use to 40 hours per year.¹ There is one significant exception. Employers who grant the full 40 hours upfront at the start of each year don’t have to carry unused hours forward at all.

Which method your employer uses is the whole question. Get that right and everything else follows.

How to Tell Which Method Your Employer Uses

Look at your pay stub. If your sick leave balance grows a little each pay period, you’re on the accrual method, and unused hours must roll over.¹ If your balance jumps to 40 hours (or five days) all at once at the start of the year, you’re on the upfront method, and carryover isn’t required.

Under accrual, you earn at least one hour of sick time for every 30 hours you work, starting on your first day.¹ You can begin using accrued time on your 90th day of employment. Employers are free to be more generous, so some accrue faster.

Your employee handbook should also spell out which system applies. If it doesn’t, ask HR.

The Accrual Cap and the Use Cap Are Different Things

Two caps operate at the same time, and mixing them up is the most common source of confusion.

The accrual cap is 80 hours, or 10 days.¹ Your employer can cap your total balance there. Once you hit 80, you stop earning more until you use some. The bucket doesn’t empty at year-end, but it also doesn’t overflow.

The use cap is 40 hours, or five days per year. Your employer can prevent you from using more than that in a single year, even if you have a bigger balance sitting on the books.¹

Here’s what that looks like in practice. Say you’ve accrued 60 hours. Your employer lets you use 40 this year. The other 20 don’t vanish. They carry over, and they’re available for future years, subject to the 80-hour accrual cap.

An employer cannot impose a use-it-or-lose-it policy that zeroes your balance out on January 1. That would violate the carryover requirement.

When the Upfront Method Skips Carryover

If your employer chooses to frontload the full 40 hours (or five days) at the beginning of each year, the law treats the carryover requirement as satisfied.¹ No ongoing accrual tracking. No rollover obligation.

The consequence for you: if you receive 40 hours on January 1 and use only 20 by December 31, your employer can reset your balance to 40 hours on the next January 1 without adding the unused 20 to it. You aren’t losing sick leave in a practical sense, because you’re getting a fresh grant, but the unused portion from last year does not stack.

This is where employees on the upfront method sometimes feel shortchanged. The law permits it, as long as the full amount arrives at the start of the year and is available to use.

What Happens at Termination

California does not require employers to pay out unused accrued sick time when your employment ends.² Vacation time is treated as earned wages and must be paid at separation. Standalone sick leave gets different treatment and can lapse without a payout.

Rehires get one useful protection. If the same employer brings you back within 12 months, your previously accrued and unused sick leave must be reinstated.¹ The 90-day waiting period before you can actually use those hours does restart, so a returning employee has the balance on the books but has to work 90 days before drawing on it.

Combined PTO Bank Changes the Math

Some California employers combine vacation, sick days, and personal time into a single PTO bank. A combined policy can satisfy the sick leave law if it provides at least the same accrual rate and allows use for all the reasons sick leave covers.

The critical difference shows up at separation. Standalone sick leave doesn’t have to be paid out. PTO that bundles sick leave with vacation generally does, because the vacation portion is treated as earned wages.² So in a combined PTO plan, unused hours effectively convert to money when you leave. In a standalone sick leave plan, they don’t.

Carryover during employment works similarly under a compliant combined plan: unused hours must remain available, subject to whatever accrual cap the employer sets, provided the cap meets the sick leave floor.

Local Ordinances Can Increase Your Balance

Several California cities have paid sick leave ordinances that exceed the state minimum. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Berkeley, Oakland, and Emeryville each have local rules that can provide up to 72 hours of paid sick leave per year for larger employers. If a local ordinance is more generous than state law, your employer must follow the more generous rule.

That can mean a larger accrual cap and a bigger balance carrying into next year than the state’s 80-hour ceiling would suggest. If you work in one of these cities, check with your local labor office to confirm which numbers apply to your workplace.

What to Check on Your Own Balance

A quick review will tell you what to expect on January 1:

Find your current sick leave balance on your most recent pay stub.
Confirm whether you’re on accrual or upfront by looking at how the balance changes over time.
If accrual, unused hours roll over up to the 80-hour cap; the 40-hour annual use limit is separate and doesn’t erase your balance.
If upfront, your prior year’s unused hours may not carry, but you should receive a fresh 40 hours at the start of the new year.
If your employer uses a combined PTO bank, unused hours generally survive year to year and are typically paid out at separation.

The answer to whether your sick time rolls over is almost always yes, unless your employer frontloads. Knowing which method you’re on tells you what to expect in January, and knowing the difference between the accrual cap and the use cap tells you why your balance behaves the way it does.

1
California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 246
2
California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 227.3