SB 221 Summary

• Enacts the California Wounded Warriors Transitional Leave Act, granting additional sick leave to qualifying military veterans employed by the state.

• Provides up to 96 hours of additional paid sick leave to state employees hired on or after January 1, 2016, who are military veterans with a service-connected disability rated at 30% or more by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

• Credits the additional sick leave on the first day of employment and makes it available for use during a 12-month period; unused leave is forfeited after 12 months and cannot be carried over.

• Allows the state to require submission of satisfactory proof that the additional sick leave is used for medical treatment of the service-connected disability.

• Requires that memoranda of understanding take precedence over these provisions if they conflict, unless the memorandum requires fund expenditures, which must be approved by the Legislature in the annual Budget Act.