A new paid sick leave law takes effect Wednesday, mandating nearly all California employers to pay for workers to be off sick.

AB 1522, commonly called the Healthy Workplace Healthy Family Act of 2014, guarantees that any employee who works in the state for 30 days or more within a year from the start of employment the right to accrue paid sick leave effective July 1.

The law applies to full-time, part-time and temporary or seasonal employees, who will earn at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.

Accrual begins on the first day of employment or July 1, whichever is later.

The new law gives a minimum of 24 hours, or three paid sick days, per year to almost all workers, according to the California Department of Industrial Relations.

Paid sick leave can accrue from year to year, but employers can cap a second-year limit at 48 hours, or six days, per year, the department stipulated.

Each boss determines whether paid leave carries over.

“Depending on the way your company’s sick leave policy is structured, accrued paid sick leave carries over to the following year,” said Douglas Large, a partner with Santa Barbara-based law firm Buynak, Fauver, Archbald & Spray LLP.

Large’s firm sent a notice to local residents letting them know about the law and explaining that paid sick leave can be used after the 90th day of employment,

With an estimated 60 percent of California employees already getting some type of paid sick leave, the law firm estimated AB 1522 could cause anyone with employees working more than 30 hours a week to take a “long, hard look at their existing policies on paid time off.”

Small-business owners are not exempt from the law.

Employees covered in collective bargaining agreements, in-home support service providers and certain air carrier employees are not covered by the new legislation.

Per requirements, employers must display posters with the new rules, provide individual notification to workers of sick leave rights and keep record of how many sick days employees accrue over the first three years.

— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.