California’s jigsaw jumble of laws and regulations governing employment leave is, to say the least, complicated. Covering a wide range of circumstances – from illness to parental bonding, from jury duty to voting in elections – the Golden State has upwards of 17 kinds of employee leave. Some of it is paid leave, while other leaves involve medical requirements and guarantee job reinstatement for a certain period. Some leaves run concurrently, and others run consecutively. Even the city you operate in can change the way leave is handled. It’s no wonder school districts have questions – lots of questions.
Recent updates to California leave laws have brought the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) in closer harmony. But it’s important that school districts pay close attention to the provisions affecting them, which may depend on how many employees they have and their own leave policies and procedures.
One area of confusion is the difference between laws protecting employment rights during leave and those laws requiring wage payment during certain leaves. Paid Family Leave (PFL) provides paid benefits to an employee when taking time off work to care for a seriously ill family member or bond with a new child. But PFL doesn’t provide job protection, while FMLA and CFRA both provide reinstatement rights upon return from a qualifying leave.
“FMLA and some state leave laws require employers to maintain benefits.”
In addition, a 2018 California law, the Parental Leave Act (PLA) provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for new parents who have given birth to a child, or parents who have had a child placed with them through foster care or adoption. PLA applies to governmental employers, including schools, and also guarantees reinstatement to the same or equivalent position.
Finally, federal FMLA and a number of state leave laws contain requirements to maintain employee benefits, including health care coverage, during various leaves. The conditions under which employers can recover premium expenses when an employee does not return from leave also depend on which law applies.
The facts and circumstances of any specific employee’s leave need to be considered, and as an employer, it’s important to be timely and accurate in responding to leave requests. While it isn’t easy to sort it all out, close attention to state and federal leave laws helps avoid misunderstandings, protects employees’ rights, and preserves your rights as an employer.