Legal Update Memo No. 59-2020 - REVISED - Senate Bill 1383 Expands the Application of the California Family Rights Act ("CFRA") (K-12) - School & College Legal Services of California

Download pdf: 59-2020 – REVISED Senate Bill 1383 Expands the Application of the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) (NLK)

Under current law, the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) provides that all public agencies are covered employers without regard to the number of employees, but to qualify for CFRA, an employee must work at a site where at least 50 employees are employed within 75 surface miles. Effective January 1, 2021, school districts, community college districts, county offices of education, and other public agencies with at least five (5) employees must provide CFRA leave to any employee who meets the following eligibility criteria: employed at least 12 months, provided at least 1,250 hours of service during the applicable 12-month period, and has available CFRA leave.

Currently employees of public agencies with 25 to 49 employees are eligible for parental leave rights under the New Parent Leave Act (“NPLA”). Effective January 1, 2021, employees of public agencies with at least five (5) employees will be eligible for parental leave under the CFRA. In addition, if both “parents” of a newborn or newly adopted or newly placed foster child work for the same employer, they will each be entitled to take up to 12 workweeks of parental leave. The current 12-week CFRA cap for parents with the same employer will no longer apply after December 31, 2021. The 12-week Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”) cap for “spouses” will continue to apply.

Under current law, CFRA leave is available to care for a parent, spouse or child, with a serious health condition. The child must be under 18 years of age or incapable of self-care. Effective January 1, 2021, leave rights under the CFRA expands covered family members to include a child of any age, a grandparent, grandchild, sibling, and registered domestic partner.

Effective January 1, 2021, the qualifying reasons to take leave pursuant to the CFRA expands to include a “qualifying exigency related to the covered active duty or call to covered active duty of an employee’s spouse, registered domestic partner, child, or parent in the Armed Forces of the United States, as specified in [Unemployment Insurance Code section 3302.2].” (Govt. Code sec. 12945.2(b)(4)(D)) Under the FMLA, leave is available to an employee whose spouse, child, parent, or next of kin has a qualifying exigency, but not to domestic partners.

Please contact our office if you have any questions regarding the upcoming changes to the CFRA, this Legal Update, or any other legal matter.

The information in this Legal Update is provided as a summary of law and is not intended as legal advice. Application of the law may vary depending on the particular facts and circumstances at issue. We, therefore, recommend that you consult legal counsel to advise you on how the law applies to your specific situation.

Legal Update Memo No. 59-2020 – REVISED – Senate Bill 1383 Expands the Application of the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) (K-12)

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