California: PTO / sick leave policy question
employment attorney California Jul 29, 2026
My California company changed their policy around the use of PTO/sick leave We have one bank for PTO/sick and one for long-term sick. The previous policy, we used PTO for 2 days, and would get long-term sick for the next few up to 7 days (the shifts you had scheduled over a seven day period) The new policy requires us to use PTO for any scheduled shifts we miss, when we are sick, for 7 days. The company posted the new policy on the website the Friday of a holiday weekend. No mass email went out to employees, nor were we informed by mail. Employees in some departments started to learn of the change after the holiday weekend, which was midway through a new pay period. Employees in my department didn't hear about it until after the pay period closed. When I got my paycheck I discovered I had been docked 32 hours of PTO, not the 16 I was expecting Does my employer owe us any kind of advance notice for this? And because of the policy change, are they allowed to go into our earned PTO bank and take hours out because the policy changed without notice? It just feels like they're balancing their books differently on the backs of staff. Your insight is appreciated, hoping to get some facts. Location: California
