Appellate Court Clarifies Correct California Sick Pay Calculation for Exempt Employees, Including Outside Sales Employees

Reaching a different conclusion than the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement had reached in an October 2016 opinion letter, a California appellate court concluded this summer that employees who qualify under the outside sales exemption should be paid sick leave pursuant to the Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act of 2014 in the same manner used to calculate sick pay for other exempt employees, including those classified pursuant to the administrative, executive, and professional exemptions. In doing so, the court explained that the statutory language of California’s paid sick leave law is unambiguous and “‘exempt employees’ includes [employees] . . . who are exempt from overtime wages,” including those classified under the outside sales exemption.