State law or handbook law—Which one rules?

Q       Can we uphold our employee handbook policy that states employees are eligible for sick leave after 90 days of employment, or must we adhere to state sick leave laws that state they should be eligible upon being hired?

In general, employers should always adhere to state laws that are applicable to the workplace, whether the laws pertain to sick leave or any other topic. But what “adherence” means depends on the specific wording of the law, including any implementing regulations.

If the law uses mandatory language, such as by saying employees “are,” “shall be,” or “must be” eligible to accrue sick leave immediately upon hire, then your company policy on eligibility for sick leave must comply with that requirement. If the law instead uses permissive language, like “may” or the phrase “should be” in your question, then that would seem to provide more flexibility.