Drastic New Modifications To The California Household Rights Act – Employment and HR

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Drastic new changes to the California Family Rights Act

December 14, 2020

Kutak Rock LLP

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California recently passed Senate Act 1383 (“SB 1383”), which will amend California’s Family Law Act (“CFRA”) effective January 1, 2021. The CFRA allows employees to take leave for family and medical purposes within a period of 12 months to 12 weeks. Under the current version of the CFRA, employers with fewer than 50 employees within 75 miles are not required to grant their employees vacation holidays under the CFRA. Employers with only five employees within a 75 mile radius are now subject to CFRA vacation requirements.

Not only will more employers be subject to the CFRA, but SB 1383 will also expand the circumstances under which employees are entitled to vacation. Prior to the change, the CFRA only allowed employees to take vacation for their own severe health condition or for vacation required to care for a child, parent, or spouse. Under the new law, employees under the CFRA can also take leave to care for grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, or domestic partners.

The expanded definition of vacation under the CFRA of SB 1383 will further complicate the employer’s efforts to comply with the Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). The FMLA requires employers with 50 or more employees to grant up to 12 weeks of vacation for family and medical purposes. If an employee is eligible to go under both the FMLA and the CFRA, the vacation will typically run concurrently for a total of 12 weeks. Due to the expanded definition of vacation under the CFRA, employers could face situations where an employee is entitled to vacation under the CFRA but not under the FMLA. Under the new changes to the CFRA, an employer could be asked to grant up to six months of vacation for the year if the employee takes vacation first under the CFRA and later under the FMLA.

The new law also removes the employer rights that had existed under the CFRA. Under the previous version of the CFRA, employers did not have to grant either parent leave to look after a child where both parents worked for the same employer. The employer only had to grant both employees a total of 12 weeks vacation. Starting in 2021, employers must allow each parent to take leave of up to 12 weeks in these circumstances. In addition, the earlier version of the CFRA granted employers the right to refuse reinstatement of a worker returning from vacation if the employee’s salary was within the highest paid 10% of workers within a 75 mile radius and the refusal was necessary to reinstate prevent significant economic damage to the employer. The new law completely abolishes the employer’s right to refuse reinstatement.

Companies with employees in California must be ready to comply with the new CFRA rules by January 1, 2021.

The content of this article is intended to provide general guidance on the subject. A professional should be obtained about your particular circumstances.

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