Changes To The California Family Rights Act

Going into effect as of January 1, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed an order expanding California’s California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) and the New Parent Leave Act (NPLA) under Senate Bill 1383 (“SB 1383”). This new bill will protect millions of California residents who will now become eligible for leave under this law. Currently, CFRA allows employees have worked for a company for a minimum of 1,250 hours in the 12 months preceding their request for leave to take job-protected leave for the following reasons:

1. Birth or adoption of a child
2. To care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition
3. The employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition

During this leave of absence, the employer must maintain the employee’s health care coverage with the guarantee the employee will be reinstated in the same or similar position. However, this only applies to people who work for companies with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius.

SB 1383’s Change To CFRA

SB 1383 makes two enormous changes to CFRA:

1. It lowers the threshold to qualify for CFRA from 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius down to 5 or more employees with no distance requirement
2. It expands the definition of family members to being able to provide care for grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, in-laws, domestic partners, adult children, and children of domestic partners

Additionally, SB 1383 deletes a provision that says if both parents work for the same employers, the employer isn’t required to provide more than 12 weeks of leave in connection to the birth of a child or foster care placement. Now, both parents are entitled to such leave.

Finally, SB 1383 removed the exceptions that an employer can refuse CFRA leave to:

1. Salaried employees among the highest-paid 10 percent of employees
2. If the refusal to reinstate the employee is necessary to prevent substantial and grievous economic injury to the operations of the employer
3. The employer notifies the employee of its intent to refuse reinstatement at the time it determines its necessary
4. If the employee was given a reasonable time to return after given notice but did not do so

Levian Law is a Los Angeles Employment Law Firm that provides prompt and effective representation to residents all over California, from Sacramento to San Diego. Our firm specializes in all aspects of employment law, including but not limited to:

• Employment discrimination
• Age discrimination
• Racial discrimination
• Gender Discrimination
• Gender Pay Discrimination
• Job Discrimination
• Pregnancy Discrimination
• Racial Discrimination
• Religious Discrimination
• Sexual Orientation Discrimination
• Hostile Work Environment
• Wage and Hour
• Whistleblowing
• Wrongful Termination

If you feel like your employer is violating any part of the California Family Rights Act, you may be entitled to compensation from your employer! Best of all, our firm will represent you on a contingency basis, meaning you pay nothing unless you win. Call us for a free case evaluation: LEVIAN LAW at (888) 694-8869 today!