San Francisco Compliance Reminder: SF Paid Sick Leave Ordinance

Panko Compliance · May 25, 2026

## What it is San Francisco was the first U.S. city to mandate paid sick leave (2007). The Paid Sick Leave Ordinance covers every employee in San Francisco — regardless of full-time/part-time/temp status, immigration status, or how long they've worked. It also has the broadest family-member definition in the country: 'designated person' can be anyone the employee selects annually. ## What compliance looks like 1. Accrual rate. 1 hour of paid sick leave per 30 hours worked, beginning on day 1. 2. Caps. Up to 72 hours/year for employers with 10+ employees. Up to 40 hours/year for employers with fewer than 10. Unused leave carries over but can't exceed those caps. 3. Usage. Allowed for the employee's own illness, illness of a family member (including domestic partner, child, parent, sibling, grandchild, grandparent), or one annually-designated person (called 'designated person' — a friend, neighbor, anyone). 4. Notice. Employer can require up to 7 days advance for foreseeable absences. For unforeseen, no advance notice required. 5. Posting. Post the official SF notice in English + Spanish + Chinese + Tagalog in the workplace. 6. Records. Keep 4 years of accrual + usage records. 7. Front-loading. Allowed instead of accrual — grant the full annual amount on day 1 of the benefit year. 8. Cash-out at separation. Not required, but if your policy doesn't carry over unused leave, you must cash it out. ## Penalties for non-compliance Failure to provide accrued sick leave: 3× the amount owed + administrative penalty. Failure to post notice: $500 per occurrence. Retaliation: full reinstatement + back pay + $1,000 minimum statutory damages. Failure to keep required records: $500 per missing record category. SF OLSE actively investigates complaints. Settlement amounts are often modest individually but class action exposure can run into 6 figures for mid-sized restaurants. --- Full guide with sources: https://alerts.getpanko.app/compliance/sf/paid-sick-leave

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