Paid leave hours: 5 allowances for technician costs

• New York State requires employers with 100 or more employees to provide up to 56 hours of paid sick leave each calendar year. New York State
• The California Department of Industrial Relations states that starting January 1, 2024, employers must allow at least five days or 40 hours of usage, whichever is more. California Department of Industrial Relations
• Washington State Department of Labor & Industries mandates a minimum accrual of one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked by an employee. Washington State Department of Labor & Industries
• Illinois Department of Labor notes that the Paid Leave for All Workers Act allows workers to earn up to 40 hours of paid leave from work each year. Illinois Department of Labor
• GOV.UK specifies that part-time workers who work regular hours for the whole year are entitled to at least 5.6 weeks’ paid holiday, which amounts to fewer than 28 days. GOV.UK

Your labor cost sheet requires specific inputs that vary by location. Do not apply a single number across different jurisdictions because coverage rules differ. New York’s paid sick leave law requires employers with five or more employees or net income of more than $1 million to provide paid sick leave to employees and for employers with fewer than five employees and a net income of $1 million or less to provide unpaid sick leave to employees ( New York State ). This distinction between paid and unpaid status depends directly on your business size and financial metrics.

When reviewing technician labor costs, identify which tier applies to your operation before recording any hours. The unit of measurement changes based on these conditions. Some jurisdictions define entitlements in days, others in hours, and some use accrual rates tied to work performed. Mixing these units creates inaccurate cost projections. Your recorded figure must match the specific legal requirement for your employee count and income level. For how paid hours are logged on a timesheet, see Paid-time rules for a field timesheet: 8 checks .

Illustrative example: a four-employee shop

Suppose your shop has four employees and net income of $1 million or less. Under the New York rule above, the applicable allowance may be unpaid time rather than paid leave. Recording this as zero paid hours reflects the actual cash outflow for that category. Larger operations, by contrast, must account for the full paid entitlement. These distinctions prevent overestimating or underestimating the true cost of technician availability.

The following table lists the five jurisdictions' published leave allowances, naming each publisher and its specific coverage conditions. Use this reference to verify which unit and eligibility tier applies to your technician labor cost sheet before recording a figure.

Each row reflects only the specific rule cited by that publisher. Do not treat one jurisdiction's figure as interchangeable with another when building your cost inputs. The units vary between hours, days, and weeks, so retain the original measurement in your records. For example, the California entry specifies a minimum usage threshold rather than an accrual rate, while the Washington entry defines an hourly earning ratio. Similarly, the UK entry expresses entitlement in weeks for regular part-time staff, noting it amounts to fewer than 28 days. When reviewing your technician sheets, match the recorded allowance to the exact coverage condition listed here. If your business size or employee work pattern differs from the stated condition, the applicable allowance may change. Verify the current status of these rules directly with the named agency before finalizing your labor cost calculations. For a Texas example of technician sheet figures, see Texas labor costs: 5 figures for technician sheets .

The New York State source states that employees begin accruing leave on September 30, 2020 ( New York State ). This date marks the start of accrual for that specific program. It does not serve as a universal publication date for every figure listed in other jurisdictions or later amendments. When recording this input on your cost sheet, note that the accrual start date is September 30, 2020.

The California Department of Industrial Relations specifies that starting on January 1, 2024, an employer must allow an employee to use at least five days or 40 hours, whichever is more ( California Department of Industrial Relations ). The notice cites DLSE Opinion Letter 2015.08.07 for this threshold. For your labor cost calculations, this effective date establishes when the "whichever is more" rule applies. You should record the allowance based on the employee's daily schedule relative to this January 1, 2024 start date. Do not assume this date applies to earlier periods or to other states' rules.

Washington State Department of Labor & Industries notes that the paid sick leave law was one of several changes mandated by Initiative 1433, approved by Washington voters in 2016 ( Washington State Department of Labor & Industries ). Voter approval in 2016 does not establish the effective date of every operational figure within the current regulations. When you review your Washington technician sheets, distinguish between the historical legislative approval date and the specific accrual rates or carryover limits described elsewhere in the guidance.

The published figures change based on specific business metrics. In New York, the New York State law distinguishes between paid and unpaid leave using two distinct thresholds: total employee count and net income. Employers with five or more employees, or a net income exceeding $1 million, must provide paid sick leave. This distinction determines whether the recorded hours on your cost sheet represent a direct wage expense or merely a scheduled absence. For mid-sized operations specifically, the same source states that employers with 5-99 employees must provide up to 40 hours of paid sick leave each calendar year. You must verify which tier applies to your current financial standing before recording the figure, as the unit remains "hours" but the cost impact differs significantly between paid and unpaid categories.

Work patterns also alter how allowances apply in other jurisdictions. The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries specifies a minimum accrual rate of one hour of paid sick leave for every 40 hours worked. This rule applies regardless of whether an employee is full-time, part-time, temporary, or seasonal. Because the accrual is tied directly to hours worked rather than a fixed annual amount, technicians with irregular schedules will accumulate different balances. When reviewing labor costs, you cannot assume a static annual number; instead, the recorded allowance depends on the actual hours logged by each technician during the period. For related checks on technician status before you set labor rates, see Four technician status mistakes before labor rates .

Check the unit on your technician labor cost sheet before comparing it to a published figure. The California Department of Industrial Relations states that, for an employee working 10-hour days, the minimum entitlement is 50 hours of paid sick leave ( California Department of Industrial Relations ). If your sheet records this as five days, verify that each day equals ten hours; otherwise the input does not match the source's hour-based calculation. Do not convert that five-day figure into a generic daily rate without confirming the workday length first.

Washington State Department of Labor & Industries describes carryover rules in hours, specifying that employers must carry over balances of 40 hours or less to the next year if unused ( Washington State Department of Labor & Industries ). When reviewing a Washington-based technician’s sheet, ensure the accrual balance is tracked in hours, not days, to align with these specific conditions. Mixing a day-based record with an hour-based rule obscures whether the 40-hour carryover limit applies correctly.

Illinois Department of Labor defines accrual as one hour of paid leave for every 40 hours worked ( Illinois Department of Labor ). This hourly ratio means a technician working irregular shifts accumulates leave based on actual time logged, not a fixed weekly allotment. If your cost sheet assumes a standard 40-hour week generates exactly one hour of leave, confirm that the technician’s actual schedule matches that pattern. For part-time technicians, the accrual will be lower per week, so a flat annual number on the sheet may misrepresent the true liability.

GOV.UK explains that workers with irregular hours build up leave depending on the hours they have already worked, rather than receiving a fixed number of days or hours ( GOV.UK ). This distinction matters when comparing UK holiday allowances against US sick leave figures. A sheet that records UK holiday entitlement in weeks cannot be directly compared to a California or Illinois entry recorded in hours without converting the underlying work hours. Retain the original unit from the source document to avoid conflating holiday entitlement with sick leave accrual.

The allowance recorded on your technician labor cost sheet is a fixed input, not a prediction of how much time each employee will actually take off. Illinois Department of Labor notes that workers can use paid leave for any reason and employers may not require workers to provide a basis for their time off request. This flexibility means the annual accrual figure does not reflect specific usage patterns tied to health issues, family needs, or other personal circumstances. You cannot assume that because an employee earns forty hours annually, they will consume exactly that amount in a given year. Actual usage varies based on individual choices within the permitted scope, so treating the entitlement as a guaranteed expense line item misrepresents the variable nature of leave consumption.

Your next step today: list your employee count and net income, then find the row in the table above that matches your jurisdiction and write its allowance and unit on your cost sheet.

What paid leave hours belong on a technician labor cost sheet?

Record the specific allowance and eligibility conditions for your jurisdiction rather than assuming a universal figure. The published figures vary by state or country, so each input must match the local rule governing your technicians. Keep the original unit and coverage conditions attached to the number on your cost sheet.

Does New York require paid sick leave for my business size and net income?

Yes, if you have five or more employees or net income over $1 million, since New York requires paid sick leave for employers that meet either test ( New York State ). Employers with fewer than five employees and net income of $1 million or less must provide unpaid sick leave instead. Check which tier applies to your current headcount and financials before recording the hour value.

How much California sick leave applies to an employee working ten-hour days?

For an employee working ten-hour days, California requires at least 50 hours of paid sick leave starting January 1, 2024 ( California Department of Industrial Relations ). The rule sets at least five days or 40 hours, whichever is more, so five ten-hour days equals 50 hours, which is greater than 40. Record this higher figure if your technicians regularly work ten-hour shifts.

When can a Washington employee begin using earned sick leave?

Employees may begin using their earned paid sick leave 90 calendar days after their first day of work ( Washington State Department of Labor & Industries ). Note this start date when calculating available leave balances for new hires during their first 90 days.

Can Illinois employees use their paid leave for any reason?

Workers in Illinois can use their paid leave for any reason without providing a basis for the request ( Illinois Department of Labor ). This broad usage right affects how you track leave reasons on your internal records, as no specific justification is legally required from the employee.