In California, employees have access to one of the most comprehensive family medical leave frameworks in the United States, encompassing state laws, federal laws, and family, medical, and disability leave lawyers, all helping to ensure employees can take time off for serious health conditions, bond with a new child, or care for qualifying family members without fear of losing their job.
Depending on the circumstances, an employee may have rights under the federal FMLA, CFRA, Pregnancy Disability Leave, or other leave laws. Experienced attorneys and FMLA lawyers can help workers understand which protections may apply to their particular situation.
Here’s an overview of the key rights around family medical leave:
California Family Rights Act (CFRA)
- Eligibility: Employees are generally eligible if they have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months before the start of leave. CFRA generally applies to an employer with five or more employees.
- Leave Entitlement: Eligible employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave during a 12-month period for qualifying reasons. These can include bonding with a child following birth, adoption, or foster placement; caring for certain family members with a serious health condition; or addressing the employee’s own serious health condition.
- Covered Family Members: CFRA provides broader family-care coverage than federal FMLA in certain respects. Depending on the circumstances, qualifying family members can include a child, parent, spouse, domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or designated person.
- Health Insurance: Employers are generally required to maintain group health coverage for the duration of qualifying CFRA leave under the same conditions as if the employee had continued to work.
CFRA is sometimes informally described as the California family medical leave act, although its official name is the California Family Rights Act. The law provides important job-protected family and medical leave rights to eligible workers.
California FMLA and Federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
- Eligibility: FMLA generally requires an employee to have worked for a covered employer for at least 12 months, have at least 1,250 hours of service during the preceding 12 months, and work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles.
- Leave Entitlement: FMLA generally provides eligible employees with up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave during a 12-month period for qualifying family and medical reasons.
- FMLA and CFRA: When an employee qualifies for both laws and the reason for leave is covered by both, FMLA and CFRA generally run concurrently. However, the laws do not overlap in every situation. For example, pregnancy disability can qualify for FMLA but is treated separately from CFRA. An employee may therefore have additional CFRA bonding leave available after pregnancy disability leave in some circumstances.
- Protection: FMLA generally requires covered employers to maintain an eligible employee’s group health insurance benefits during qualifying leave under the same conditions that would have applied if the employee continued working.
California Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL)
- Employees who are disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition may be entitled to up to four months of job-protected Pregnancy Disability Leave per pregnancy, depending on the period of actual disability.
- Unlike CFRA and FMLA, PDL does not require an employee to work for the company for a minimum number of months or complete a minimum number of hours before becoming eligible. It generally applies to workplaces with five or more employees.
- Because PDL and CFRA protect different types of leave, an employee who qualifies may be able to take pregnancy disability leave followed by CFRA leave to bond with a new child.
New Parent Leave and Child Bonding
- The former New Parent Leave Act provided child-bonding protections to certain workers who were not covered by the previous version of CFRA. Those protections were effectively incorporated into the expanded CFRA framework, and the separate New Parent Leave Act was repealed.
- Today, eligible workers may qualify for CFRA leave to bond with a child following birth, adoption, or foster care placement. Federal FMLA may provide overlapping bonding protections when the employee and employer meet its eligibility requirements.
Paid Family Leave (PFL)
- Paid Family Leave provides eligible workers with up to eight weeks of partial wage-replacement benefits when they take time off for qualifying reasons, including caring for a seriously ill family member or bonding with a new child.
- PFL provides wage replacement rather than job protection by itself. However, an employee may have job-protection rights under CFRA, FMLA, or another applicable law while receiving PFL benefits.
Understanding the difference between paid benefits and job-protected leave can be important when planning time away from work. Attorneys familiar with family and medical leave laws can help employees determine which benefits and protections may apply.
Protections and Prohibitions
- Retaliation and Discrimination: It is generally unlawful for covered employers to retaliate against employees for requesting or taking legally protected family or medical leave. This can include termination, demotion, discipline, or other adverse employment actions because an employee exercised protected leave rights.
- Job Restoration: Upon returning from protected leave, employees are generally entitled to return to the same position or a comparable or equivalent position, depending on the law involved and subject to applicable requirements and exceptions.
Legal Remedies and Reporting
Employees who believe their family or medical leave rights have been violated may have several options for pursuing a case. The appropriate agency and legal process depend on which law was allegedly violated. CFRA-related complaints may be filed with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD), while federal FMLA violations may be reported to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division.
Potential remedies can include job reinstatement, lost wages, benefits, damages, or other relief when available under the applicable law. Because filing deadlines and legal requirements can vary, consulting experienced attorneys can help an employee evaluate a potential case and determine the appropriate next steps.
