/>iCurrently, if you are an employer with 50 or more employees within 75 miles, you are required, under the federal Family and Medical Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), to provide an unpaid protected leave of absence of up to 12 weeks during any 12 month period to eligible employees for various reasons, including, for the birth or placement of a child for adoption or foster care; to care for an immediate family member with a serious health condition, or to take medical leave when the employee is unable to work because of a serious health condition.
A pending California Senate Bill (SB), if passed, would extend some of the benefits of the FMLA and CFRA to California employers with 20 to 49 employees. SB 63, aka Parental Leave, would add Section 12945.6 to the Government Code, and prohibit employers with 20 to 49 employees within a 75 miles radius from refusing to allow an employee with more than 12 months of service and at least 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the previous 12-month period, to take up to 12 weeks of parental leave to bond with a new child within one year of the child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement.
SB 63 would also prohibit employers from refusing to maintain and pay for coverage under a group health plan for an employee who takes this leave (assuming an employer has a group health plan). Further, under proposed SB 63, eligible employees will be entitled to utilize accrued vacation pay, paid sick time, or other paid time off during the period of parental leave.
If an employer employs both parents who are eligible for leave, SB 63 would authorize, but not require, the employer to grant simultaneous leave to both employees.
This bill would also prohibit an employer from taking any adverse action, such as refusing to hire, or from discharging, fining, suspending, expelling, or discriminating against, an employee for exercising the right to parental leave or giving information or testimony as to his or her own parental leave, or another person’s parental leave, in an inquiry or proceeding related to rights guaranteed under this bill.
Finally, SB 63 would prohibit an employer from interfering with, restraining, or denying the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under this bill.
It remains unclear whether SB 63 will pass and be signed into law by Governor Brown. We will continue to monitor any developments on SB 63 and other pending bills that may impact employers in California.
