Employment Law in San Francisco: Worker Protections & Rights

Overview

San Francisco has enacted some of the most progressive employment laws in the nation. The City's Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) administers and enforces numerous ordinances that go beyond California state law. These protections cover paid leave, health insurance, hiring practices, and more.

This guide covers the major San Francisco employment ordinances that protect workers in the City.

San Francisco Paid Sick Leave Ordinance

Accrual Requirements

San Francisco requires employers to provide paid sick leave to employees who work in San Francisco. Employees accrue at least 1 hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Employees can accrue paid sick leave on a calendar year or other regular basis.

Minimum Hours and Eligibility

Employees are entitled to use paid sick leave beginning on the 90th day of employment. There is no minimum number of hours that must be worked in a week to be entitled to the benefit.

Uses of Paid Sick Leave

Paid sick leave may be used for diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health condition; preventive care; or for purposes related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking affecting the employee or their family members.

Carryover and Payout

Unused paid sick leave carries over to the next year, though an employer may cap total accrual. Accrued but unused paid sick leave is generally not paid out on separation. Labor Code Section 246(g)(1) provides that "an employer is not required to provide compensation to an employee for accrued, unused paid sick days upon termination, resignation, retirement, or other separation from employment." Section 246(g)(2) does require the employer to reinstate previously accrued and unused sick days if it rehires the employee within one year. Sick leave differs from vacation and PTO in this respect, because accrued vacation is treated as earned wages and is payable at separation. Anyone relying on a more generous local ordinance or company policy should confirm its terms, since this page does not verify the San Francisco ordinance's own payout provisions.

San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance

Health Care Coverage Requirements

San Francisco requires employers with 20 or more employees to provide health care benefits or contribute to a health care fund. The minimum contribution is based on the number of hours worked and the size of the employer.

Which Employers Are Covered

Two different thresholds, and the second is often missed: a for-profit employer with 20 or more persons performing work, or a nonprofit with 50 or more. The count is of persons performing work, not of employees in San Francisco.

Which Employees Are Covered

An employee is covered if they have been employed more than 90 days and regularly work at least 8 hours per week in San Francisco. Eight, not ten. That distinction decides coverage for a lot of part-time work, and a worker at eight or nine hours a week who has been told they are below the threshold has been told wrong.

Employer Contributions

A covered employer must make a minimum hourly health-care expenditure for each covered employee, at rates the city sets and adjusts annually. The current rates are not reproduced here, because they change each year; get them from the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement. The obligation can be satisfied by providing health insurance or by contributing to the City Option.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance (Ban the Box)

Background Checks in Hiring

San Francisco's Fair Chance Ordinance restricts employers from asking about criminal history early in the hiring process. Specifically, employers cannot ask applicants about prior arrests or convictions on job applications or during initial interviews.

Conditional Offers Only

Employers may only inquire about criminal history after extending a conditional offer of employment (Gov. Code § 12952, employers of five or more). If the employer then intends to withdraw the offer, it must conduct an individualized assessment, give written notice identifying the conviction, and allow the applicant at least five business days to respond. If an employer wants to deny employment based on criminal history, the employer must provide the applicant with a written assessment explaining the business reasons for the denial and must allow the applicant to respond.

Protected Records

The ordinance protects applicants from discrimination based on arrests that did not result in conviction, convictions that have been dismissed or expunged, and certain other records.

Three Separate Ordinances, Often Run Together

Flexible scheduling, lactation, and paid parental leave are three different San Francisco ordinances with different thresholds and different mechanics. Treating them as one is the most common mistake made about this area, and it matters because the one you need decides what you are entitled to ask for.

Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance: a Right to Ask, Not a Right to Get

The FFWO applies to employers with 20 or more employees and gives certain employees the right to request a flexible or predictable working arrangement for caregiving reasons: a child for whom the employee has parental responsibility, a family member with a serious health condition, or a parent aged 65 or older. Examples include changed start or end times, part-time or part-year schedules, job sharing, and telecommuting.

It grants a right to a process, not to an outcome. The employer must meet with you and must respond within 21 days of the meeting. It may still say no. So the enforceable part is the process: if no meeting happened, or no response came inside 21 days, that is the violation, rather than the refusal itself.

Lactation in the Workplace Ordinance

A separate ordinance, at San Francisco Administrative Code § 16.9-26, effective January 1, 2018. It requires a lactation location and a written lactation accommodation policy. The written policy is the part most often missing, and it is the easiest thing to ask for. The location standards go beyond state law: clean, with a chair and a surface for a pump, near a sink, and with easy access to a refrigerator.

State law sets an independent floor that applies regardless: Labor Code §§ 1030 to 1034 require a non-bathroom space in close proximity to the work area, shielded from view and free from intrusion, with a surface, seating, electricity, and access to a sink with running water and a refrigerator or cooling device. Section 1033 makes denial a § 226.7 violation carrying a $100-per-day civil penalty. You get whichever provision is more favourable on each point.

Paid Parental Leave Ordinance

Also separate. The PPLO applies to employers who regularly employ 20 or more employees anywhere in the world, and it requires supplemental compensation on top of California Paid Family Leave for bonding with a new child. It does not replace state PFL; it tops it up, so you claim state PFL and the employer supplements it.

Coverage has three parts, all of which must be met: you work at least 8 hours per week within San Francisco, you perform at least 40 percent of your total weekly hours in the city, and you qualify for California PFL bonding benefits. Eligibility begins after 90 days of employment. Because the eligibility period has been amended, confirm the current figure with the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement.

San Francisco Minimum Wage

Current Rate

San Francisco has a city minimum wage that is adjusted annually. The minimum wage applies to all employees working in San Francisco, regardless of employer size.

Tipped Employees

San Francisco does not allow a tip credit. All employees must be paid the full minimum wage, and tips cannot be considered as part of the wage requirement.

San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE)

Agency Role

The Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) administers and enforces San Francisco employment ordinances. The department investigates complaints, conducts audits, and can impose penalties for violations.

Filing a Complaint

Employees can file complaints with OLSE without cost. OLSE will investigate the complaint and attempt to resolve disputes. OLSE can award back wages, penalties, and attorney's fees.

Statute of Limitations

Filing deadlines differ by ordinance. Confirm the deadline for your specific claim with OLSE or with an attorney before relying on any general figure.

Conclusion

San Francisco's employment laws provide broad protections to workers in the City. Employers must comply with both California state law and San Francisco's ordinances. If you believe your San Francisco employment rights have been violated, contact OLSE or consult with an employment attorney.