Los Angeles Lawyer for Employees Fired for Using Sick Leave

Reviewed by Eliot J. Rushovich, Managing Partner, Rise Law Firm, PC. Last updated October 2026.

California law gives most employees paid sick leave, and it prohibits employers from firing, demoting, suspending, threatening or otherwise discriminating against employees for using it. The same protection applies when an employee uses sick leave to care for a sick child, parent, spouse or other family member. Employers rarely say that an employee was fired for calling in sick. More often, the employee is written up under an attendance policy, criticized for being “unreliable,” or let go shortly after an absence for reasons that did not come up before.

Rise Law Firm represents employees who were fired or forced out after using sick leave, caring for a family member, or complaining that sick leave was denied, throughout Los Angeles and California. We represent employees only.

Your paid sick leave rights

California’s paid sick leave law (Lab. Code § 245 et seq.) covers most private and public employees, full-time and part-time, who work in California for 30 or more days in a year. In summary:

• How much. Employers must provide at least 40 hours or five days of paid sick leave per year, whichever is more, either up front or through accrual of at least one hour for every 30 hours worked (Lab. Code § 246). An employee may begin using it after 90 days of employment.
• What it can be used for. Diagnosis, care or treatment of an existing health condition, preventive care, and certain purposes for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking and other qualifying acts of violence (Lab. Code § 246.5(a)).
• Who it covers. The employee and family members, including a child, parent, spouse, registered domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, and one other person the employee designates (Lab. Code § 245.5).
• No replacement required. An employer may not require an employee to find a replacement worker as a condition of using sick leave (Lab. Code § 246.5(b)).

Some cities and counties require more than state law. In the City of Los Angeles, employers must provide at least 48 hours of paid sick leave per year (L.A. Mun. Code § 187.04), and unincorporated Los Angeles County, Santa Monica, San Diego, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and Emeryville have their own ordinances. Where a local ordinance is more generous, the employer must follow it, and these ordinances also prohibit retaliation.

California’s separate “kin care” law (Lab. Code § 233) applies to all accrued sick leave an employer provides, including leave above the legal minimum. It allows an employee to use at least half of the sick leave accrued each year for the same purposes as paid sick leave, including caring for a family member, prohibits discipline for doing so, and allows the employee to sue for reinstatement and damages.

Being fired or punished for using sick leave

An employer may not deny an employee the right to use accrued sick leave, or discharge, threaten, demote, suspend or otherwise discriminate against an employee for using or attempting to use it, for filing a complaint about it, or for opposing a practice the law prohibits (Lab. Code § 246.5(c)). If the employer takes action against the employee within 30 days of a complaint to the Labor Commissioner, cooperation in an investigation, or opposition to an unlawful practice, the law presumes the action was retaliatory, and the employer must rebut that presumption.

These are the situations we see most often:

• Termination shortly after a sick day. An employee calls in sick, or leaves early to take a child to the doctor, and is fired soon afterward for “attendance” or a reason that did not concern anyone before.
• Attendance points for protected absences. An employer may not count protected sick leave as an absence that can lead to discipline, discharge, demotion or suspension (Lab. Code § 234). A points system that does so violates the law.
• Being told to find coverage or to work while sick. An employee is disciplined for not finding a replacement, or is pressured not to use sick leave at all.
• Retaliation for complaining. An employee complains that sick leave was denied or not paid and is then written up, has hours cut, or is fired. California law also prohibits retaliation against employees who complain about Labor Code violations generally (Lab. Code § 98.6).

These are common examples, not a complete list. Sick leave claims often overlap with other claims. If the illness is a disability, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits discrimination and requires the employer to discuss reasonable accommodations, which can include time off (Gov. Code § 12940(a), (m), (n)). A serious health condition can also entitle an employee to up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave under the California Family Rights Act (Gov. Code § 12945.2). You can read more on our disability discrimination and family and medical leave pages.

Deadlines (statutes of limitations) and compensation

The main deadlines are below. They can be shorter or longer depending on the facts, so it is best not to wait.

Depending on the facts, an employee fired for using sick leave may recover lost wages and benefits, and in a wrongful termination or FEHA case, emotional distress damages and, where the employer acted with malice, oppression or fraud, punitive damages (public entities are not liable for punitive damages under Gov. Code § 818). The Labor Code also provides for reinstatement and back pay, and for civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation for retaliation against an employee who complained about Labor Code violations (Lab. Code § 98.6). An employee disciplined for using kin care leave may sue for reinstatement and actual damages (Lab. Code § 233).

Frequently asked questions

I was fired a few days after calling in sick. Do I have a case?

You may have a case. Close timing between a protected absence and a termination is strong evidence, particularly if your record was good before and your employer provides inconsistent or questionable reasons for your termination. Keep track of the dates of your absences and of each event that followed, and save any texts or emails in which you reported the absence.

My employer uses an attendance points system. Can my sick days count against me?

No. An employer may not count protected sick leave as an absence that can lead to discipline, discharge, demotion or suspension (Lab. Code § 234).

Can I use sick leave to care for my child or parent?

Yes. Paid sick leave may be used to care for a child, parent, spouse, registered domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling or one designated person, and an employer may not punish an employee for doing so.

My employer says I did not give enough notice. Does that matter?

It depends. If the need for sick leave is foreseeable, the employee should give reasonable advance notice. If it is not foreseeable, the employee must give notice as soon as practicable (Lab. Code § 246(i)). An employer may not use a notice rule as a pretext for punishing an employee who was sick.

Does my employer have to pay out unused sick leave when I leave?

Generally no. Unlike vacation, unused sick leave does not have to be paid out at the end of employment (Lab. Code § 246(g)). There are two exceptions: the employer has a policy or agreement to pay it out, or the employer combines sick leave and vacation in a single paid time off policy, in which case the unused balance is treated as vacation and must be paid.

If you live or work in Long Beach, see our Long Beach paid sick leave page. For an overview of the cases we handle, see our Los Angeles employment lawyer page.

Talk to a Los Angeles lawyer about being fired for using sick leave

Rise Law Firm represents employees throughout California in wrongful termination, retaliation, discrimination and harassment cases, from chief executives to minimum-wage workers. We have secured millions of dollars for our clients, including recoveries against major companies, government entities, and celebrities, and we are particularly well known for handling high-profile cases. We work on a contingency basis, which means there are no fees or costs unless we recover compensation for you.

In one case, we represented a medical assistant at a Southern California healthcare provider who was fired for “attendance” two weeks after her most recent sick day. She alleged that every absence her employer cited was approved sick leave for a mental health condition and an injury, and that the termination violated the kin care law, the Fair Employment and Housing Act and public policy. Every case is different, and results depend on the facts of each case.

If you were fired, disciplined or forced out after using sick leave or caring for a family member, contact us to request a free, confidential consultation, or call (310) 728-6588. You can learn more on our wrongful termination and retaliation pages.

This page provides general information about California law and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.