Effective January 1, 2021, the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) will be expanded under SB 1383 to include employers with five or more employees. Presently, employers with 50 or more employees are subject to CFRA. CFRA, like the federal Family Medical Leave Act, requires employers to provide up to 12 weeks of job protected unpaid leave to eligible employees who have a serious health condition, need to care for a family member with a serious health condition, or seek time to bond with a newborn or a child placed with the employee for adoption or foster care.
Senate Bill 1383, makes each of the following changes to current California law:
• Decreases the number of employees an employer must have to be covered by CFRA from 50 to five;
• Expands CFRA’s definition of family member to include grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings;
• Adds certain qualifying exigencies related to an employee’s family member being called to active military service to the list of reasons an employee may take CFRA leave;
• Eliminates the “key employee” provision that allows employers to deny reinstatement of employees in some circumstances where an employee is among the highest ten percent of wage earners in the company;
• Eliminates the present ability of employers to cap baby bonding leave to a combined total of 12 weeks when both parents are the employer’s employees; and,
• Effectively supersedes the New Parent Leave Act by applying all of the CFRA’s requirements to employers of five or more employees.
To qualify for unpaid leave under CFRA, an employee must meet all of the following criteria: 1) he/she worked for the covered employer for at least 12 months prior to commencing leave; 2) worked at least 1,250 hours for the covered employer in the 12 consecutive months prior to commencing leave; and, 3) worked at a location with at least five employees within a 75-mile radius.
Employers with five or more employees are encouraged to contact legal counsel in advance of the new year to update existing employee handbooks and develop practices for handling CFRA related leave requests.
