Actions to significantly expand California's family and medical leave requirements have taken effect, so employers need to be prepared to respond appropriately to employees' requests for time off.

In September 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law to expand the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). The new parts of the law took effect in January 2021 and January 2022, depending on when they were added.

Key Details

The CFRA now covers private employers with five or more employees, rather than the 50 employees required before the expansion. The CFRA continues to apply to public employers, regardless of size. The new provisions removed the requirement that employees work within a 75-mile radius of each other to be covered by the CFRA. That means employees at small worksites and those working remotely may be eligible for CFRA leave.

California employees become eligible for CFRA leave if they have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and worked at least 1,250 hours within that time frame. The law covers part-time workers if they meet those two requirements.

The CFRA now guarantees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the following reasons:

• Birth of a child, including the child of the employee's domestic partner.
• Placement of a child for adoption or foster care.
• Caring for a child, parent, parent-in-law, spouse, registered domestic partner, sibling, grandparent or grandchild with a serious health condition.
• The employee's serious health condition, excluding pregnancy.
• A...

Read Full Story: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/state-and-local-u...