Setting Up Paid Sick Leave Accruals
Greenshades Payroll now supports mandated sick leave across multiple jurisdictions.
Before you can create your accrual schedule you will first need to create a Time Off pay code. We have a useful guide on how to create Earnings Codes here!
You may configure the time off code by using Greenshades Online and navigating to: Settings -> Payroll -> Codes -> Create Code on the Time Off Code screen.
Time Off Code Details
This screen allows you to input the basic details for your time off accrual.
Code name: This is the name that will display in Greenshades for this pay code. This cannot be changed once the code has been saved.
Pay stub name: This is the name that will display on employee pay stubs.
Description: Optional field to give more information that you may need to reference later.
Start date: Beginning date that the code can take effect.
End date: Optional field you can use for limiting the usage of this time off code.
Can code carry a negative balance?: This option will limit the balance from a time off code to zero if has been selected.
For example, an employee has 4 hours of PTO in their balance, and they request 8 hours which is approved and makes it to payroll. If the setting is set to “Yes” the employee will then have a balance of -4 hours. If the setting is set to “No” they will have a balance of 0 hours.
Accrual method: Select Mandated by state or municipality.
Accrual Tier Information
This screen acts as the schedule for your accrual. How long an employee must work before accruing, variable accrual rates based on years of service, and rollover dates are all configurable to your policy.
Paid Sick Leave works differently than our other Time Off Accrual codes. We allow for one code to accrue balances for multiple jurisdictions. To request any sick leave the employee will only see the time off code which will include all of the balances for each jurisdiction. Due to combining the balance, the best practice is to have one code per state; for example, one code for California PSL which includes all California counties and cities that have mandated paid sick leave.
For example, John Smith works in Berkeley, San Francisco, and San Diego. In the Time Off module, he will see one code called California PSL, which has his total balance between the three work locations, that he will use to request the paid sick leave.
Location: This dropdown includes the list of states, counties, and cities that currently have Paid Sick Leave regulations. You can select the locations that employees work in and accrue paid sick leave.
Hrs per accrual: The number of hours an employee must work before accruing the time off.
Accrual per hrs worked: The number of hour accrued after working the number of hours specified in Hrs per accrual.
Maximum rollover: the maximum number of hours that can be carried over each year.
Maximum balance: the maximum number of hours an employee has available to them.
Max accrual per pay run: to limit the number of hours an employee can accrue per pay run.
Max accrual per year: limits the number of hours an employee can accrue per year.
Max usage per year: limits the number of hours an employee can use per year.
Time off usage method: dropdown where you can specify how we should reduce the time off taken from employees from each jurisdiction attached to the code.
- Evenly across all locations with earnings: we will reduce evenly from all balances where an employee has had earnings.
- Proportionally across all locations with earnings: we will reduce proportionally from all balances where an employee has had earnings.
Example: John has a balance of 20 hours in Berkeley and 10 hours in San Francisco. If an employee takes 6 hours we will reduce both locations by 3 hours leaving a balance of 17 hours for Berkeley and 7 hours for San Francisco.
Example: John has a balance of 20 hours in Berkeley and 10 hours in San Francisco. If an employee takes 6 hours we will reduce Berkeley by 4 hours, leaving 16 hours available, and reduce San Francisco by 2 hours, leaving 8 hours available.
Choose rollover date: stating when the balance will carry over each year.
- Hire date will be on the anniversary of the employee’s hiring. An option for rehire date will appear if this is selected.
- January 1 carries over at the beginning of the calendar year.
- Custom date allows you to specify the month and day for the rollover to occur.
2024 Paid Sick Leave Overview
This table is an overview of the laws as of 1/1/2024. There are several laws which can bring more nuance to these paid sick leave rules which may affect the numbers presented here. Make sure to verify that these figures match with your specific use case.
Associated Paid Time Off Codes
Now that you have configured your accrual rates you can assign the pay code that you have created. Only one pay code can be used per accrual schedule and each pay code can only have one accrual schedule assigned to it. If a pay code already has a schedule assigned the checkbox will be grayed out and will not be allowed as a selection.
Once you have clicked Save you are finished with this setup! Paid Sick Leave is unique in that you will not need to assign the code to your employees. The code will automatically be added to your employees, and it will begin to accrue based on work performed in locations with a mandated leave policy.