FMLA - California

California Family Rights Act

Unlike the federal FMLA, California’s Family Rights Act (CFRA) applies to all public employers and private employers with 5 or more employees in the United States.

Bereavement leave

Effective January 1, 2023, employers with five or more employees must give employees who have worked at least 30 days are up to five days of bereavement leave. Employees may take the bereavement leave for the death of a spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, or parent-in-law.

The leave does not need to be continuous; it may be taken intermittently, but it must be completed within three months of the date of death of the family member. The leave is in addition to CFRA leave.

The bereavement leave may be unpaid, but employees may use vacation, personal leave, accrued and available sick leave, or compensatory time off that is otherwise available.

If you have a leave policy that provides for less than five days of paid bereavement leave, employees are entitled to no less than a total of five days of bereavement leave, consisting of the number of days of paid leave under the existing policy, and the remainder of days of leave may be unpaid.

You may require employees to provide documentation of the death of the family member, which could include a death certificate, a published obituary, or written verification of death, burial, or memorial services from a mortuary, funeral home, burial society, crematorium, religious institution, or governmental agency. Employees are to provide this within 30 days of the first day of the leave.

Paid Family Leave

In addition to the CFRA, California has the Paid Family Leave (PFL) law that entitles employees who paid into the State Disability Insurance Program to up to eight weeks of partial pay per year while taking time off from work to bond with a new minor child by birth, adoption, or foster care; or to care for a seriously ill family member. Family members include children, spouses, domestic partners, parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings.

Employees may also receive PFL benefits for leave taken for a qualifying exigency related to a “qualifying military event” arising out of the overseas military deployment of the employee’s family member. This would be for the covered active duty or call to covered active duty of the employee’s spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent in the Armed Forces of the U. S.

Employees are eligible to receive family temporary disability insurance benefits equal to 1/7 of their weekly benefit amount for each full day they are unable to work. The maximum payment is eight times the employee’s weekly benefit amount.

Effective January 1, 2025, employers may not require that employees use vacation leave before accessing Paid Family Leave benefits.

The PFL does not generally provide for job-protection or reinstatement rights; rather, it provides for income replacement while an employee is on leave.

Pregnancy disability leave

California also has the Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) law.

Employers with five or more employees are covered by the PDL.

Employees need not meet any eligibilty criteria; they simply must need time off for a disability related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition.

Employees may take up to four months (17.3 weeks or 693 hours) of unpaid, job-protected leave for such a disability. If you provide more than four months of leave for other types of temporary disability, you must provide the same amount of leave to employees who are disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.

A pregnancy-related disability can include prenatal or postnatal care, severe morning sickness, doctor-ordered bed rest, childbirth and recovery, loss or end of pregnancy, and so on.

You may require employees to use accrued sick leave while on unpaid PDL. You may not, however, require employees to use vacation or other accrued time off during PDL. Employees may choose to use vacation or other accrued time off. Employees may also qualify for state SDI wage remplacement.

Employees are to provide at least 30 days’ notice if possible. You may require medical certification supporting the need for PDL.

Employees may take PDL intermittently, on a reduced schedule, or continuously, as needed. PDL may be taken before and after birth for any time the employee is unable to work.

You must provide group healthcare coverage while an employee is on pregnancy disability leave.

Employees are to be returned to their same position. In some situations, employees may be reinstated to a comparable position.

PDL may not be used concurrently with CFRA, as the CFRA does not include pregnancy as a serious health condition. PDL may, however, be used concurrently with FMLA. Therefore, an employee could take four months of PDL while disabled followed by 12 weeks of CFRA for bonding.

You must post a notice of PDL rights in the workplace, and if you have employee handbooks, PDL information must be included there, as well.

Paid sick leave

California employers must provide paid sick leave (PSL) per the Healthy Workplace, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (AB 1522, Chapter 317; SB616 enacted 10/4/2023).

Employees who works in California for 30 days or more within a year from the beginning of employment are entitled to paid sick days.

Employees begin to accrue paid sick leave upon hire. They accrue paid sick days at the rate of not less than one hour per every 30 hours worked. Employees may use paid sick days beginning on the 90^th day of employment.

You may use a method that allows PSL to accrue at a rate other than one hour for every 30 hours worked, but must meet certain benchmarks to make that alternative accrual effective. If you use an alternative accrual rate, you must ensure that employees accrue 24 hours or three days of sick leave by the 120^th day of the year and 40 hours or five days by the 200^th day.

These benchmarks do not apply if you are using an accrual rate of one hour paid sick leave for every 30 worked. These benchmarks will also be difficult to meet for part-time employees, so the CA Department of Industrial Relations believes employers will use alternative accrual rates for full-time employees, not part-time employees.

You may otherwise front load the PSL, giving the full amount of leave (five days or 40 hours, whichever is more) at the beginning of a designated 12-month period.

Effective until January 1, 2024, accrued but unused sick days carry over to the following year of employment, but you may cap an employee’s use of paid sick days to 24 hours or three days in each year of employment. The law also allows you to limit an employee’s total accrued paid sick leave to no more than 48 hours or six days.

Effective January 1, 2024, accrued but unused sick days carry over to the following year of employment, but you may cap an employee’s use of paid sick days to 40 hours or five days in each year of employment. Employees are eligible to earn the 40 hours/5 days within six months of employment. The law also allows you to limit an employee’s total accrued paid sick leave to no more than 80 hours or ten days.

Employees are to provide notice of the need for paid sick leave, but this may be verbal or in writing. The law does not include provisions for you to request documentation supporting the need for paid sick leave.

You may set a reasonable minimum increment of paid sick leave, not to exceed two hours.

The rate of pay is to be the employee’s hourly wage. If the employee had different rates in the 90 days before taking leave, the rate of pay is to be calculated by dividing the employee’s total wages, not including overtime premium pay, by the employee’s total hours worked in the full pay period of the prior 90 days.

Employees may take paid sick leave for the following reasons:

• The diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health condition of, or preventive care for, an employee or an employee’s family member.
• For an employee who is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.

Family members include a child, parent, spouse, registered domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, and sibling.

As of January 1, 2023, family members include a designated person, which is a person identified by the employee at the time leave is requested. You may limit an employee to one designated person per 12-month period for paid sick days.

Effective January 1, 2025, employers must provide paid sick days to agricultural employees who work outside and meet the eligibility criteria to avoid smoke, heat, or flooding conditions created by a local or state emergency. This paid sick leave would be seen as necessary for preventive care.

You are not required to pay out unused paid sick leave upon termination of employment. If, however, an employee separates from employment and is rehired within one year, previously accrued and unused paid sick days must be reinstated upon rehire.

If you already give employees paid sick days that provide at least the same level of benefit than does the Healthy Workplace, Healthy Families Act, you need not provide more.

You must post a notice describing the provisions and give written notice to new hires certain information including paid sick leave rights. You must also provide an employee with written notices indicating the amount of paid sick leave available on either the employee’s itemized wage statement or in a separate writing provided on the designated pay date.

Leave under this law does not run concurrent with leave under other laws.

You must retain related records, such as the hours worked and paid sick days accrued and used by an employee, for at least three years.

Finally, a “paid time off” (PTO) plan or policy does not allow an employer to circumvent the law with respect to vacations. Where an employer replaces separate arrangements for vacation and sick leave with a program granting employees a certain number of “paid days off” each year that can be used for any purpose, including vacation and sick leave, employees have an absolute right to take these days off.

The California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) takes the position that such a program is subject to the same rules as other vacation policies. Thus, for example, the “paid time off” is earned on a day-by-day basis, vested paid time off days cannot be forfeited, the number of earned and accrued paid time off days can be capped, and if an employee has earned and accrued paid time off days that have not be used at the time the employment relationship ends, the employee must be paid for these days.

Reproductive loss leave

Effective January 1, 2024, employers with five or more employees are covered by this provision. Also covered are the state and any political or civil subdivision of the state, including, but not limited to, cities and counties, regardless of how many employees they have.

Employees are eligible to take the leave if they have been employed by the employer for at least 30 days before leave is to begin.

Eligible employees are entitled to take up to five days of unpaid leave. Employees may, however, use certain other leave balances otherwise available to the employee, including vacation, personal leave, accrued and available sick leave, or compensatory time off that is otherwise available to them.

Eligible employees may take the leave for a reproduction loss event, which is the day or, for a multiple-day event, the final day of a failed adoption, failed surrogacy, miscarriage, stillbirth, or an unsuccessful assisted reproduction. These terms includes the following:

• Failed adoption: The dissolution or breach of an adoption agreement with the birth mother or legal guardian, or an adoption that is not finalized because it is contested by another party. This event applies to a person who would have been a parent of the adoptee if the adoption had been completed.
• Failed surrogacy: The dissolution or breach of a surrogacy agreement, or a failed embryo transfer to the surrogate. This event applies to a person who would have been a parent of a child born as a result of the surrogacy.
• Miscarriage: A miscarriage by a person, by the person’s current spouse or domestic partner, or by another individual if the person would have been a parent of a child born as a result of the pregnancy.
• Stillbirth: A stillbirth resulting from a person’s pregnancy, the pregnancy of a person’s current spouse or domestic partner, or another individual, if the person would have been a parent of a child born as a result of the pregnancy that ended in stillbirth.
• Unsuccessful assisted reproduction: An unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or of an assisted reproductive technology procedure. This event applies to a person, the person’s current spouse or domestic partner, or another individual, if the person would have been a parent of a child born as a result of the pregnancy.

Employers must allow the days an employee takes for reproductive loss leave to be nonconsecutive.

If an employee experiences more than one reproductive loss event within a 12-month period, employers are not required to grant a total amount of reproductive loss leave time in excess of 20 days within a 12-month period.

Reproductive loss leave shall be completed within three months of the event.

Reproductive loss leave must be taken pursuant to any existing applicable employer leave policy.

The leave does not run concurrently with other leave. Employees' rights to reproductive loss leave must be construed as a separate and distinct right.

Employees are not required to provide any documentations supporting their request for reproductive loss leave.

Employers may not retaliate against an individual because of either of the following:

• An individual’s exercise of the right to reproductive loss leave.
• An individual’s giving information or testimony as to their own reproductive loss leave, or another person’s reproductive loss leave, in an inquiry or proceeding related to rights guaranteed under this section.

Therefore, employers may not take action including, but not limited to:

• Refusing to hire,
• Discharging,
• Demoting,
• Fining,
• Suspending,
• Expelling, or
• Discriminating against the individual.

Employers may not interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under this law.

Employers must maintain any information received as confidential and must not be disclosed except to internal personnel or counsel, as necessary, or as required by law.

Sick leave (Kin Care)

Under California law, if an employer provides sick leave for employees, it must permit an employee to use accrued sick leave for certain reasons. The employee is entitled to use not less than the amount of sick leave the employee would accrue in six months, per calendar year. Conditions placed on sick leave usage for use by an employee also applies to sick leave used for other qualifying reasons.

The reasons employees are entitled to use Kin Care mirror those of the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act (paid sick leave). The term “family member” also reflects the definition under paid sick leave, including children, parents, spouses, registered domestic partners, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings.

Effective January 1, 2021, employees taking California paid sick leave may designate the leave either for kin care, or for the employee’s own health condition, or for obtaining relief if the employee is a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. the Employees have the right to designate sick leave as kin care or not. Therefore, employers are to ask employees how the leave is to be designated.

Under the law, “sick leave” is defined as “accrued increments of compensated leave.” A problem arose for employers who provide an unlimited quantity of paid sick leave. The California Supreme Court ruled that the Kin Care provisions do not apply to paid sick leave policies that provide for an uncapped number of compensated days off. The employer would need to provide an identified quantity of paid sick leave for the law to apply. Employers may still provide unlimited paid sick leave; however, Kin Care wouldn’t apply.

Disability insurance

Disability insurance (DI or SDI) provides partial wage replacement to eligible workers who are unable to work because of a disability. “Disability” is defined as any mental or physical illness or injury which prevents employees from performing their regular or customary work. Employees must be unable to do their work for at least eight consecutive days, and must be employed or actively looking for work at the time they become disabled. They also must have earned at least $300 from which SDI deductions were withheld during a previous period, and be under the care and treatment of a licensed doctor or accredited religious practitioner during the first eight days of their disability. Like PFL, employees must apply for benefits.

Time off for school/day care

Employers with 25 or more employees working at the same location must not discriminate against employees who are parents, guardians, stepparents, foster parents, grandparents, or someone who stands in loco parentis of one or more children of the age to attend kindergarten, grades 1 through 12, or a licensed child care provider. These employees may take up to 40 hours of leave each year for the following:

• Find, enroll, or reenroll a child in a school or with a licensed child care provider, or to participate in activities of the school or provider. This may be limited to eight hours in any calendar month.
• Address a child care provider or school emergency.

Employees, prior to taking the time off, must give reasonable notice to the employer of the absence.

Time off for donating organs or bone marrow

The Michelle Maykin Memorial Donation Protection Act requires employers with 15 or more employees to allow eligible employees to take paid time off to donate an organ or bone marrow.

To be eligible, employees must have worked at least 90 days for the employer.

For organ donation, employees may take up to 30 days paid leave in a one-year period. Employees may take an additional 30 days unpaid leave in any one-year period.

For bone marrow donation, employees are entitled to paid leave of up to five business days in any one-year period.

The one-year period is measured from the date the leave begins and consists of 12 consecutive months. Leave may be taken in one or more periods; it need not be taken all at once.

Employees must provide written verification that they are a donor and that there is a medical necessity for the donation. Such absence is not considered a break in service for the purpose of the right to salary adjustments, sick leave, vacation, annual leave, or seniority. Group health care coverage is to be continued during such leave.

Employers may require employees to take up to five days of earned but unused sick or vacation leave or paid time off for bone marrow donation and up to two weeks of earned but unused sick or vacation leave or paid time off for organ donation. Leave taken cannot be treated as a break in service in regard to salary adjustments, sick leave, annual leave, seniority, or paid time off.

Group health coverage must be maintained during this type of leave.

Leave for donations must not be counted concurrently with the CFRA or FMLA.

Employers must restore employees to the position held when the leave began or to a position with equivalent seniority, benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment. Employees may bring a civil action to enforce these provisions.

Leave for Civil Air Patrol volunteers

Members of the California Wing of the all-volunteer Civil Air Patrol are entitled to up to ten days per year of unpaid leave when they are called up for an emergency by the U.S. Air Force, the California Emergency Management Agency, or any subdivision of the state with the authority to declare an emergency. Such emergencies are those that involve the saving or protection of life and property.

Covered employers are those with 15 or more employees. Leave under this law must be provided above and beyond leave provided under other laws — Civil Air Patrol leave cannot run concurrent with other leave.

Eligible employees are those who have worked for the employer for at least a 90-day period immediately preceding leave.

Employees are to provide as much notice as possible of the leave, and include the intended dates upon which the leave would begin and end.

Employers may require certification from the proper Civil Air Patrol authority to verify the eligibility of the employee for the leave requested or taken. Leave may be denied if the employee fails to provide the required certification.

Employers cannot require employees to exhaust all accrued paid leave.

Employers and employees may negotiate for the employer to maintain the employee benefits at the expense of the employer during the leave period.

At the end of leave, employees are to be restored to the position they held when leave began or to a position with equivalent seniority status, employee benefits, pay, and other terms and conditions of employment, unless the employee is not restored because of conditions unrelated to the exercise of the leave rights by the employee.

Volunteer firefighters, reserve peace officers, and emergency rescue personnel

Employers with at least 50 employees must allow employees who perform duties as volunteer firefighters, reserve peace officers, or emergency rescue personnel to take up to 14 days of leave per calendar year. This includes disaster medical response entities sponsored or requested by the state. Employees who are health care providers must notify their employer at the time they become designated as emergency rescue personnel and when they are notified that they will be deployed as a result of that designation. The leave may be used to engage in firefighting, law enforcement, or emergency rescue training.

Family military leave

Employers with 25 or more employees must allow a qualified employee to take up to ten days of unpaid leave during a qualified leave period. Employers must not retaliate against a qualified employee for requesting or taking such leave.

“Qualified employee” means a person who satisfies all of the following:

• Is the spouse of a qualified member;
• Performs service for an employer for an average of 20 or more hours per week, but does not include an independent contractor;
• Provides the qualified employer with notice, within two business days of receiving official notice that the qualified member will be on leave from deployment, of his or her intention to take leave; and
• Submits written documentation to the employer certifying that the qualified member will be on leave from deployment during the time of the leave requested.

“Qualified member” means a person who is any of the following:

• A member of the Armed Forces of the United States who has been deployed during a period of military conflict to an area designated as a combat theater or combat zone by the President of the United States;
• A member of the National Guard who has been deployed during a period of military conflict; or
• A member of the Reserves who has been deployed during a period of military conflict.

“Qualified leave period” means the period during which the qualified member is on leave from deployment during a period of military conflict. This reason for leave does not run concurrent with other forms of leave.

Victim's leave (effective 1/1/25)

All employers are prohibited from:

• Discharging or in any manner discriminating against employees for taking time off to serve on an inquest jury or trial jury, if the employee, before taking the time off, gives reasonable notice to the employer that the employee is required to serve.
• Discharging or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against employees, including, but not limited to, employees who are victims, for taking time off to appear in court to comply with a subpoena or other court order as a witness in any judicial proceeding.
• Discharging or in any manner discriminating or retaliating against employees who are victims for taking time off from work to obtain or attempt to obtain any relief. Relief includes, but is not limited to, a temporary restraining order, restraining order, or other injunctive relief, to help ensure the health, safety, or welfare of the victim or their child.

Employers with 25 or more employees may not discharge or in any manner discriminate or retaliate against an employee who is a victim or who has a family member who is a victim for taking time off work for any of the following reasons relating to a qualifying act of violence:

• To obtain or attempt to obtain any relief for the family member. Relief includes, but is not limited to, a temporary restraining order, restraining order, or other injunctive relief, to help ensure the health, safety, or welfare of the family member of the victim.
• To seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain, medical attention for or to recover from injuries caused by a qualifying act of violence.
• To seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, program, rape crisis center, or victim services organization or agency as a result of a qualifying act of violence.
• To seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain psychological counseling or mental health services related to an experience of a qualifying act of violence.
• To participate in safety planning or take other actions to increase safety from future qualifying acts of violence.
• To relocate or engage in the process of securing a new residence due to the qualifying act of violence, including, but not limited to, securing temporary or permanent housing or enrolling children in a new school or childcare.
• To provide care to a family member who is recovering from injuries caused by a qualifying act of violence.
• To seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain civil or criminal legal services in relation to the qualifying act of violence.
• To prepare for, participate in, or attend any civil, administrative, or criminal legal proceeding related to the qualifying act of violence.
• To seek, obtain, or provide childcare or care to a care-dependent adult if the childcare or care is necessary to ensure the safety of the child or dependent adult as a result of the qualifying act of violence.

Leave entitlement

Employers may limit total leave time taken for these reasons to 12 weeks, with exceptions:

• If any employee’s family member is a victim who is not deceased as a result of the crime, and the employee is not a victim, employers may limit the total leave taken to 10 days.
• If an employee’s family member is a victim who is not deceased as a result of a crime, and the employee is not a victim, and the employee takes leave to relocate or engage in the process of securing a new residence due to the qualifying act of violence, including, but not limited to, securing temporary or permanent housing or enrolling children in a new school or childcare, employers may limit the leave taken for that reason to five days.

A “qualifying act of violence” means any of the following, regardless of whether anyone is arrested for, prosecuted for, or convicted of committing any crime:

• Domestic violence.
• Sexual assault.
• Stalking.
• An act, conduct, or pattern of conduct that includes any of the following: o In which an individual causes bodily injury or death to another individual.
  • In which an individual exhibits, draws, brandishes, or uses a firearm, or other dangerous weapon, with respect to another individual.
  • In which an individual uses, or makes a reasonably perceived or actual threat to use, force against another individual to cause physical injury or death.

Employees may use vacation/paid time off and/or paid sick leave for leave taken for a qualifying reason under this law.

Family members include a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, domestic partner, or designated person. “Designated person” is any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. The designated person may be identified by the employee at the time the employee requests the leave. Employers may limit an employee to one designated person per 12-month period.

Certification

Employers may ask for certification, which is sufficient if it is any of the following:

• A police report indicating that the employee or a family member of the employee was a victim.
• A court order protecting or separating the employee or a family member of the employee from the perpetrator of the qualifying act of violence, or other evidence from a court or prosecuting attorney that the employee or a family member of the employee has appeared in court.
• Documentation from a licensed medical professional, domestic violence counselor, a sexual assault counselor, victim advocate, licensed health care provider, or counselor that the employee or a family member of the employee was undergoing treatment or seeking or receiving services directly related to the qualifying act of violence.
• Any other form of documentation that reasonably verifies that the qualifying act of violence occurred, including, but not limited to, a written statement signed by the employee, or an individual acting on the employee’s behalf, certifying that the absence is for a qualifying reason.

Concurrency

If an employee is provided with leave as a reasonable accommodation, and the absence would qualify under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), the leave must run concurrently.

Reasonable accommodation

Employers must provide reasonable accommodations for an employee who is a victim or whose family member is a victim of a qualifying act of violence and requests an accommodation for the safety of the employee while at work.

Reasonable accommodations may include safety measures such as a transfer, reassignment, modified schedule, changed work telephone, permission to carry telephone at work, changed work station, installed lock, assistance in documenting domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or another qualifying act of violence that occurs in the workplace, an implemented safety procedure, or another adjustment to a job structure, workplace facility, or work requirement in response to domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other qualifying act of violence, or referral to a victim assistance organization.

Employers must engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process with an employee to determine effective reasonable accommodations, taking into consideration the specific facts involved, including the danger facing the employee or their family member.

Employers need not provide an accommodation that would pose an undue hardship on the employer’s business operations. Undue hardship also includes an action that would violate an employer’s duty to furnish and maintain a place of employment that is safe and healthful for all employees.

Notices Employees should give their employer reasonable advance notice unless such notice is not feasible. Employers must provide notice to employees of their rights under this law. The notice must be given:

• Upon hire,
• To all employees annually,
• At any time upon request, and
• Any time an employee informs an employer that the employee or the employee’s family member is a victim

Domestic violence/crime leave (effective until 1/1/25)

All California employers must allow leave to employees:

• Who are victims of domestic violence,
• Who are victims of sexual assault,
• Who are victims of stalking,
• Who are victims of a crime or offense that caused physical injury or that caused mental injury and a threat of physical injury, or
• Whose immediate family member died as a direct result of a crime.

The term “crime” includes misdemeanors or felony, and it does not matter whether anyone is arrested, prosecuted, or convicted in relation to the crime

Employees may take this leave to attend to any of the following:

• To seek medical attention for injuries caused by domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking;
• To obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, program, or rape crisis center as a result of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking;
• To obtain psychological counseling related to an experience of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking; or
• To participate in safety planning and take other actions to increase safety from future domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking including temporary or permanent relocation.

Employers are to provide a notice to employees of their domestic violence leave rights. The notice is to be provided upon hire and to other employees upon request. The Labor Commissioner is expected to develop a model notice and make it available to employers. You are not required to use the model notice, but whatever you do use needs to be substantially similar to the model notice.

Employees must provide reasonable advance notice of the intention to take time off, unless the advance notice is not feasible. When an unscheduled absence occurs, employers may not take any action against employees if, within a reasonable time after the absence, employees provide a certification.

Certification must be sufficient in the form of any of the following:

• A police report indicating that the employee was a victim;
• A court order protecting or separating the employee from the perpetrator;
• Documentation from a licensed medical professional, domestic violence counselor, a sexual assault counselor, victim advocate, licensed health care provider, or counselor that the employee was undergoing treatment or receiving services for physical or mental injuries or abuse resulting in victimization from the crime or abuse; or
• Any other form of documentation that reasonably verifies that the crime or abuse occurred, including but not limited to, a written statement signed by the employee, or an individual acting on the employee’s behalf, certifying that the absence is for a qualifying reason.

Employers may request recertification of an employee’s status as a victim six months after the date of the previous certification.

Employees may use available vacation, personal leave, or compensatory time off for leave under this law.

All employers are to provide reasonable accommodations for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking when such a request is for the safety of the victim while at work. Reasonable accommodations may include implementing the following safety measures or procedures:

• Transfer;
• Reassignment;
• Modified schedule;
• Changed work telephone;
• Changed workstation;
• Installed lock;
• Assistance in documenting domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking that occurs in the workplace; or
• Adjusted job structure, workplace facility, or work requirement.

Employers may not discharge, discriminate, or retaliate against employees who are victims of crime or abuse for taking leave.

Employees are to let employers know of the need for an accommodation because of the employee’s status as a victim. Employees are also to provide, upon request, a written statement certifying that the accommodation is for a purpose under this law. The employer may also request certification from an employee requesting an accommodation demonstrating the employee’s status as a victim.

Employers are to engage in an interactive process with the employee to identify effective reasonable accommodations. Employers are not required to provide an accommodation that poses an undue hardship.

Employees are to notify the employer if they no longer need an accommodation.

In addition to the above requirements, employers with 25 or more employees must provide leave for employees for the following reasons:

• To seek medical attention for injuries caused by crime or abuse.
• To obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, program, rape crisis center, or victim services organization or agency as a result of the crime or abuse.
• To obtain psychological counseling or mental health services related to an experience of crime or abuse.
• To participate in safety planning and take other actions to increase safety from future crime or abuse, including temporary or permanent relocation.

Violent crime leave (effective until 1/1/25)

Employers must allow an employee who is a victim of a crime, an immediate family member of a victim, a registered domestic partner of a victim, or the child of a registered domestic partner of a victim, job-protected time off to attend judicial proceedings related to that crime.

A victim is someone against whom a violent felony, a serious felony, or a felony proscribing theft or embezzlement has been committed.

The employee must provide a copy of the responsible agency’s notice of each scheduled proceeding, unless advance notice is not feasible. If not feasible to provide advance notice, the employee is to provide, within a reasonable time after the absence, documentation evidencing the judicial proceeding.

Employees may choose to substitute accrued paid time off.

Employers are to keep related records confidential.

Court appearances (effective until 1/1/25)

Employers may not discharge, discriminate against, or retaliate against an employee who is a victim of specified offenses for taking time off from work to appear in court to be heard at any proceeding including postarrest release decisions, plea, sentencing, postconviction release decision, or in which any right of the victim is at issue.

The protections apply to individuals who have suffered direct or threatened physical, psychological, or financial harm as a result of a commission or attempted commission of a crime or delinquent act. A victim also includes a person’s spouse, parent, child, sibling, or guardian.

The list of crimes includes murder and solicitation of murder; kidnapping; carjacking; rape, stalking, and domestic violence; sex offenses; DUI vehicular manslaughter and other vehicular deaths; child abuse that caused significant harm or death; assault resulting in the death of a child under 8 years old; and the abuse of an elder or dependent adult.

Employees are to provide reasonable advance notice of the intention to take time off, when feasible.

When an unscheduled absence occurs, the employer is prohibited from taking an action against the employee if the employee, within a reasonable time after the absence, provides a certification. Certification may be in the form of the following:

• Police report;
• Court order;
• Documentation from a medical professional, domestic violence advocate or advocate for victims of sexual assault, health care provider, or counselor that the employee was undergoing treatment for physical or mental injuries or abuse.

Employees may use available vacation, personal leave, or comp time for time taken off under this law.

Alcohol and drug rehab accommodations

California employers with 25 or more employees must reasonably accommodate any employee who wishes to voluntarily enter and participate in an alcohol or drug rehabilitation program, provided that this reasonable accommodation does not impose an undue hardship on the employer.

Not really a leave law, but unpaid time off for rehab can be an accommodation. Other accommodations might include reassignment to a vacant position, adjusted work schedule or breaks, or other reasonable change in employment that will help the purposes of treatment.

Employees have the right to use accrued sick days for the time off for treatment.

While reinstatement is not specifically indicated, employers are prohibited from discriminating against an employee who wishes to voluntarily seek treatment. Employers are not allowed to demote, wrongfully terminate, refuse to rehire, fail to promote, suspend, or in any other way discriminate against the employee for taking leave.

Time off for this reason this could run concurrently with CFRA and/or FMLA if the employee has a serious health condition.

Employers may refuse to hire, or discharge an employee who, because of the employee’s current use of alcohol or drugs, is unable to perform his or her duties, or cannot perform the duties in a manner which would not endanger his or her health or safety or the health or safety of others.

LC 4850

The title refers to a section of the CA Labor Code (LC). The law gives certain public employees up to one year (52 weeks) of paid leave when they are temporarily totally disabled due to a work-related injury or illness.

Employees need not meet any eligibility criteria. The following full time employees are entitled to the leave:

• City police officers.
• City, county, or district firefighters.
• Sheriffs.
• Officers or employees of any sheriff’s offices.
• Inspectors, investigators, detectives, or personnel with comparable titles in any district attorney’s office.
• County probation officers, group counselors, or juvenile services officers.
• Officers or employees of a probation office.
• Peace officers under Section 830.31 of the Penal Code employed on a regular, full-time basis by a county of the first class.
• Lifeguards employed year-round on a regular, full-time basis by a county of the first class or by the City of San Diego.
• Airport law enforcement officers
• Harbor or port police officers, wardens, or special officers of a harbor or port district or city or county harbor department under subdivision (a) of Section 830.1 or subdivision (b) of Section 830.33 of the Penal Code.
• Police officers of the Los Angeles Unified School District.

Not included are employees who whose principal duties do not clearly come within the scope of active law enforcement or firefighting and prevention service, such as telephone operators, clerks, stenographers, machinists, mechanics, and so forth. Also, the law does not apply to employees of the City and County of San Francisco.

For peace officers and firefighters, this leave is in addition to CFRA leave.

If an employee recovers from a disability, returns to work, and gets hurt again, a new one-year leave is triggered.

The benefits include not only the employee’s normal salary, but also pension, health insurance, death benefits, and benefits from normal salary deductions.