A guard calls in sick at 5:30 p.m. for a 6 p.m. shift. The lobby, the gate, or the warehouse yard is about to go unstaffed, and the client wants to know who is covering the post. Situations like this happen at every security company, and California law shapes how they should be handled.
Security guard sick leave in California is not optional. Guards are employees, and employees earn paid sick leave under state law. For property managers, HOA boards, and facility directors who hire guards through a contractor, understanding these rules explains why a good provider builds sick-day coverage into every schedule. This guide covers what the law requires, what it means for your site, and how to keep posts staffed without cutting corners.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Confirm specifics with your attorney or the California Department of Industrial Relations.
What California Law Requires for Paid Sick Leave
California’s Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act applies to nearly all employees, including full-time, part-time, and temporary security officers. Since January 1, 2024, employers must generally provide 5 days or 40 hours of paid sick leave per year. Under the state’s guidance, employees receive whichever is greater, so a guard who works 10-hour shifts is entitled to at least 50 hours.
Employers can meet the rule in two ways. The accrual method gives a guard at least one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. The front-loading method grants the full amount at the start of the year. Both are legal as long as the guard can use the full entitlement.
A few other rules matter in practice:
- Usage cap: An employer may limit use to 40 hours or five days in a year.
- Accrual cap: Total accrued leave may be capped at 80 hours or ten days.
- Waiting period: A guard must work for the employer 90 days before taking paid sick leave, although many employers allow it sooner.
- Carryover: Unused leave carries into the next year, subject to the accrual cap.
- Rehire rule: Accrued and unused leave is restored if a guard returns to the same employer within 12 months.
Why a Guard Can Use Sick Leave
Many people assume sick leave covers only a guard’s own flu. The law is broader. Guards may use paid sick leave for preventive care, diagnosis, or treatment of a health condition, and to care for a family member. The definition of family includes a child, parent, spouse, registered domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, and a designated person.
Since January 1, 2025, additional uses apply, including jury duty and court appearances in certain situations, and time related to qualifying acts of violence. That list is one reason sick-day volume is rarely zero at any large site. A contractor with 20 guards should expect some absences every month, and the schedule has to assume it.
How Sick Leave Is Calculated for Security Officers
Paid sick leave is paid at the guard’s regular non-overtime hourly rate. A guard who normally earns $22 an hour is paid $22 for each sick hour.
Here is an illustrative example. A full-time guard who works 2,080 hours in a year accrues about 69 hours under the one-hour-per-30-hours formula (2,080 divided by 30). The employer may cap use at 40 hours per year, and total accrual at 80 hours. At the illustrative $22 rate, 40 hours of used sick leave costs the employer about $880 per guard, per year.
Employers must also show available sick leave balances on the guard’s pay stub or on a document issued the same day as the paycheck. A guard who can see the balance is less likely to dispute it, and a contractor with clean records is easier to audit.
What Employers Cannot Do
The law protects guards from retaliation for using accrued sick leave. An employer cannot deny the right to use it, discharge, threaten, demote, suspend, or otherwise discriminate against a guard for taking it. A policy that gives points for absences, or that punishes guards who call in sick, risks violating the law.
Requiring a guard to find their own replacement before taking a sick day is also a compliance risk, so confirm the practice with counsel. Coverage is the employer’s job, not the guard’s. Good providers keep a qualified relief pool for this reason, so the guard can step away and the post stays staffed.
What Sick Leave Means for Your Security Contract
If you hire guards through a contractor, you do not pay sick leave directly. The cost still appears in the bill rate. A responsible provider builds sick leave, along with payroll taxes, workers’ compensation, and training, into the hourly price. A rate that looks too low often means someone is cutting costs somewhere, sometimes in the benefits guards are legally owed.
Three contract questions are worth raising before you sign:
- How does the company staff a post when a guard calls out with less than an hour of notice?
- Does the bill rate include a replacement guard at no premium, or does a call-out trigger an overtime surcharge?
- How does the provider document paid sick leave for each guard assigned to your site?
The overtime and holiday multipliers in your agreement matter here. If a replacement is pulled from a guard who has already worked a full shift, double time may apply after twelve hours. Our guide on overtime and holiday multipliers explains how those clauses work, and a separate article covers double time after twelve hours in more detail.
How to Keep Posts Covered When Guards Call In Sick
Sick-day absences are predictable in aggregate even when individual absences are not. The strongest providers plan for them in advance.
Build a Relief Pool
A relief pool is a group of guards trained on your site who can fill in on short notice. Written post orders covering patrol routes, access rules, and escalation contacts let a relief guard start within minutes. The questions-to-ask guide lists the qualified relief pool as one of the first items to confirm with a security provider.
Set a Call-Out Escalation Plan
A good plan tells the supervisor who to call first, how long to wait for a reply, and when to move to the second option. For example, the supervisor texts the relief pool, then calls an on-call guard, then sends a supervisor to hold the post until a replacement arrives. Each step should have a time limit measured in minutes.
Watch for Patterns
If one site has frequent same-day call-outs, look for the cause. Long shifts, poor scheduling, and high turnover all raise absence rates. The turnover article on coverage gaps shows how an unstable guard roster turns small absences into recurring holes in your coverage.
Practical Example: A Warehouse With Eight Guards
Take a distribution warehouse with a 24/7 gate post and rotating patrols, staffed by eight guards. If each guard uses the full 40 hours of sick leave over a year, that totals 320 hours, which is roughly two full weeks of a single round-the-clock post (168 hours per week). These are illustrative figures, but the point holds: sick leave consumes real hours that must be covered.
A provider with no relief plan would fill those hours with overtime, pushing costs up and tiring guards. A provider with a trained relief pool absorbs most of them at standard rates. Over a year, the second approach costs the client less and produces fewer incidents.
Local Ordinances Can Add More
State law sets the floor. Some California cities have their own paid sick leave ordinances that can be more generous than the state rule. If your site sits in a city with its own ordinance, the provider has to follow whichever rule is more favorable to the guard. Ask the provider which rules apply at each location, especially if you have sites in more than one city.
Key Takeaways
- California guards earn paid sick leave. The state minimum is 5 days or 40 hours per year, and the accrual formula is one hour per 30 hours worked.
- Employers may cap use at 40 hours or five days and cap total accrual at 80 hours or ten days.
- Employers cannot punish a guard for using accrued sick leave, and coverage is the employer’s job, not the guard’s.
- The cost of sick leave sits inside the bill rate, so an unusually low rate is a warning sign.
- A trained relief pool, written post orders, and a call-out escalation plan keep your post covered without overtime spikes.
- Ask every provider how it documents sick leave and how it handles a call-out with less than an hour of notice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do part-time and temporary security guards get paid sick leave in California?
Yes. The law covers part-time and temporary employees who meet the eligibility rules, including the 90-day employment period before they can use accrued leave. Guards who are properly classified as employees accrue leave like anyone else.
How many sick days must a California security company provide?
The general minimum is 5 days or 40 hours per year. Guards on 10-hour shifts are entitled to whichever amount is greater, which means 50 hours. Employers can use accrual or front-load the leave.
Can a security company require a doctor’s note?
State guidance focuses on the employee’s right to use accrued leave and protects against retaliation. Whether a note can be required for a given absence is a legal question, so employers should confirm with counsel before adopting a note policy.
Who pays for sick leave when I hire guards through a contractor?
The contractor pays the guard. The cost is part of the hourly bill rate you pay the contractor, alongside payroll taxes, insurance, and training.
What happens to my site when a guard calls in sick?
A well-run provider contacts its relief pool, escalates to an on-call guard or supervisor, and keeps the post staffed. Ask for the call-out procedure in writing before you sign a contract.
Conclusion
Paid sick leave is a legal baseline for security guards in California, and it shapes how a contractor should price and staff your site. For clients, the practical question is simple: when a guard is out, does the post stay covered? A provider with a trained relief pool, clear post orders, and a written escalation plan can answer that with confidence.
If you want to review how your current provider handles absences, or you need a staffing plan built for your property, contact OnGuard Security for a free consultation. We will walk through your posts, your schedule, and the coverage plan that fits your site.