California: CFRA Expands to Most Employers in 2021

Applies to:          All Employers with 5+ CA Employees

Effective:            January 1, 2021

The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) provides family and medical leave to employers that largely mirrors the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), with a few differences. SB 1383 will make some significant changes in 2021, including the following.

• CFRA will be expanded to employers with 5 or more employees.
• The requirement that a number of employees work within 75 miles of the worksite to qualify is eliminated.
• CFRA includes leave because of a qualifying exigency related to the covered active duty or call to covered active duty of an employee’s spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent in the U.S. Armed Forces.
• It expands leave to care for others, including siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, domestic partners, children of domestic partners, and adult children (regardless of dependency).
• It eliminates the limitation of 12 weeks total of baby bonding leave for both parents at the same employer. Each parent will be able to each receive 12 weeks of leave.
• It eliminates the exception to reinstate salaried employees following leave if they are among the highest paid 10 percent of employees.

Additionally, employers with 50 or more employees may have to provide 12 weeks of leave under FMLA and another 12 weeks of leave under CFRA because of the expanded definition of “family member” where leave is available under CFRA, but not FMLA.

Finally, because CFRA will expand to employers with 5 or more employees, including leave following the birth, adoption, or placement of a child, the New Parent Leave Act will expire at the end of 2020.

Action Items

1. Review SB 1383 here.
2. Have leave policies and leave administration forms updated.
3. Have managers trained on the new leave requirements.
4. Subscribers can call our HR Hotline at (833) 268-5531 or send an email to hrsolved@onedigital.com for further assistance.