California Expands the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) to Employers with 5 or More Employees
Dec. 8, 2020
Under existing law, the California Family Rights Act, also known as the CFRA, provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave for eligible employees to care for themselves and a wide variety of family members, including the following:
Employee's own serious health condition
To bond with an adopted or foster child or to bond with a newborn
To care for a parent, registered domestic partner, or child with a serious health condition
To be eligible for CFRA under existing law, the employer must have at least 50 employees within a 75-mile radius of the workplace where the leave-seeking employee worked. However, under Senate Bill 1383 (i.e. new law), which goes into effect on January 1, 2021, the employer only has to have 5 or more employees to be subject to CFRA. The new law also allows employees to take CFRA leave to care for grandparents, grandchildren and siblings, who were not included under the old law. Finally, under the old law, parents who worked for the same employer had to split the 12-week leave time. Under the new law, each parent will be entitled to his/her own 12-week leave if they work for the same employer.
This is yet another victory in the fight for employee rights in the state of California. Feel free to contact our office with any questions.