Archives for September 2020

California Expands Family Leave Protections To Small Business Workers

On Sept. 17, 2020, Governor Newsom signed CA S.B. 1383 into law, ensuring job-protected family leave for Californians who work for an employer with five or more employees to bond with a new child or to care for themselves or a family member. The new law, which is set forth in the newly added Government Code §12945.2, is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2021.

S.B. 1383 expands rights under the pre-existing California Family Rights Act (CFRA), which already provides leave protections for workers at larger employers who employ 50 or more workers. Now, with the new law, those who work for small businesses will also receive job-protected leave.

ā€œCalifornians deserve to be able to take time off to care for themselves or a sick family member without fearing they’ll lose their job,ā€ Newsom said in a statement.

Like the former CFRA, employers with five or more employees will now be required to grant up to 12 workweeks of ā€œfamily care and medicalā€ leave in any 12-month period to employees who have at least 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the previous 12-month period. The employer must guarantee the employee the same or comparable job position upon return from leave.

Family care and medical leave may be taken for any of the following reasons:

  • Birth of a child of the employee or placement of a foster or adopted child with the employee;
  • To care for a family member (child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner) with a serious medical condition;
  • Employee’s own serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of his or her position (except for leave taken for pregnancy-related disability, childbirth, or related medical conditions, which are covered by other laws); and/or
  • A qualifying exigency related to active duty or call to covered duty of an employee’s spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent, in the Armed Forces of the United States.

Employers may not interfere with or deny employees’ rights to exercise family care and medical leave. Similarly, employees are protected from retaliation by their employers for requesting or using family care and medical leave.

If you feel your employer has violated your family care and medical leave rights, you may be able to hold the company liable for damages.

For more information or to schedule a complimentary consultation with an attorney who can help, contact Haeggquist & Eck, LLPĀ onlineĀ or call us atĀ (619) 342-8000.

Can I Be Fired For Requesting an Accommodation To Take Care of Children Who Are Now At Home?

Under the newly enacted Families First Coronavirus Response Act (ā€œFFCRAā€), some employees are allowed to take up to 12 weeks of continuous or intermittent leave to care for their child because their child’s school has shut down and such employees cannot be fired for taking such leave.

The FFCRA requires private employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide employees who have been employed for more than 30 days with up to 12 weeks of Family Medical Leave Act (ā€œFMLAā€) leave if the employee cannot come to work, or telework, to care for a minor child whose school or child care is closed or unavailable due to COVID-19. Section 5104 of the FFCRA prohibits employers from discharging, disciplining, or discriminating against employees who take this type of leave under the FFCRA.

California law also requires employers who employ more than 25 employees to provide up to 40 hours of leave to parents, guardians, stepparents, foster parents and grandparents, who give advance notice to their employer, to care for their children during a ā€œschool emergency.ā€ A ā€œschool emergencyā€ includes when a child cannot return to school due to a ā€œnational disaster….ā€ One could reasonably argue the pandemic qualifies as a ā€œnational disaster,ā€ requiring an additional 40 hours of leave on top of the leave provided under the FFCRA. Importantly, California employers are prohibited for discharging or discriminating against their employees for taking this type of leave.

If Your Employer Has More Than 500 Employees

For employees working for employers with more than 500 employees, an employer is not required to provide a reasonable accommodation for an employee simply because an employee’s child’s school is closed under the FFCRA. While Federal and California law require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnant or disabled employees, an employer is not required to provide a reasonable accommodation for employees to take care of their children just because schools or daycares have closed. Accordingly, there are no legal grounds to request this type of ā€œreasonable accommodationā€ and therefore the law does not protect employees from being fired for requesting this accommodation.

If, however, an employee’s child suffers from a serious medical condition, where the parent must stay home to care for the child’s condition, the employee may be able to request an accommodation under the FMLA or under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (ā€œFEHAā€) based on the employee’s association with her disabled child.

Do You Need Legal Assistance?

If you have any questions about your specific rights to leave, please feel free to contact Haeggquist & Eck, LLP for more information and to arrange a free consultation with one of our attorneys.

Get in touch with us today by filling out ourĀ online contact formĀ or callingĀ (619) 342-8000Ā for help.

Translate Ā»