Governor Newsom has signed Senate Bill (SB) 1383 to significantly expand the California Family Rights Act (CFRA).  The CFRA is California’s counterpart to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and provides unpaid family and medical leave of up to 12 weeks for eligible employees.  The new law’s key revisions are summarized below and take effect on January 1, 2021.

More CFRA Coverage and Uses

The most significant change under SB 1383 is the expansion of CFRA coverage to employers with just five employees, rather than the 50 employees required under existing law.  Also, because CFRA coverage has been extended to small employers, the law repeals the New Parent Leave Act, which took effect in 2018, requiring employers with 20-49 employees to provide CFRA-like baby bonding leave.

Additionally, SB 1383 eliminates the requirement that employees must work at a worksite with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius to be eligible for CFRA leave.  Thus, going forward, California employees at small worksites or who are the only ones at their worksite (such as remote workers) will be eligible for CFRA leave so long as they have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and have worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12-month period prior to the leave.

SB 1383 also expands the reasons for which employees may use CFRA leave.  Under existing CFRA provisions, employees are allowed to use CFRA leave to care for an employee’s parent, spouse, child, or registered domestic partner who has a serious health condition.  SB 1383 expands leave rights by also allowing CFRA leave for the care of grandparent, grandchild, or sibling with a serious health condition.  The law further clarifies that child includes the child of a domestic partner, and removes a restriction providing that leave could be used for a dependent child over age 18 only if that child was incapable of self-care due to a disability.

The law also borrows a provision from the FMLA to add a new CFRA right for military “qualifying exigency” leave.  Eligible employees will now be able to use available CFRA leave for a qualifying exigency related to the covered active duty or call to covered active duty of an employee’s spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent in the United States Armed Forces.

Finally, SB 1383 removes two CFRA provisions that limited employee leave rights.  First, the new law eliminates the option for employers to cap CFRA leave for new child bonding to a combined total of 12 weeks when both parents are employed by the employer.  Second, the law removes the “key employee” exception that allowed employers to deny reinstatement to an employee who used CFRA leave where the employee was among the highest paid 10% of employees.

Getting Ready

As a result of the changes made by SB 1383, which go into effect on January 1, 2021, small employers that will be covered by CFRA for the first time will need to ensure that they adopt new compliant policies and are familiar with their new CFRA obligations, and employers already subject to CFRA will need to revise their leave policies and related materials to address the new CFRA requirements. Employers should also provide training on the new requirements to HR and management personnel who have responsibilities for approving or administering leaves. Finally, employers will need to be alert to the new ways in which CFRA will differ from FMLA and the fact that the leaves will not always run concurrently, to ensure that leaves are properly tracked under the two laws.

Tags: CA, california, cfra, Employment, family rights
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Photo of Carolyn Rashby Carolyn Rashby

Carolyn Rashby provides business-focused advice and counsel to companies navigating the constantly evolving and overlapping maze of federal, state, and local employment requirements. Carolyn’s approach is preventive, while recognizing the need to set clients up for the best possible defense should disputes arise.…

Carolyn Rashby provides business-focused advice and counsel to companies navigating the constantly evolving and overlapping maze of federal, state, and local employment requirements. Carolyn’s approach is preventive, while recognizing the need to set clients up for the best possible defense should disputes arise.

As a senior member of Covington’s Institutional Culture and Social Responsibility Practice Group, Carolyn has co-led significant investigations into workplace culture, DEI issues, and reports of sexual misconduct and workplace harassment.

As an employment lawyer with over two decades of experience, Carolyn focuses on a wide range of compliance and regulatory matters for employers, including:

  • Conducting audits regarding employee classification and pay equity
  • Advising on employment issues arising in corporate transactions
  • Strategic counseling on a wide range of issues including discrimination and harassment, wages and hours, worker classification, workplace accommodations and leave management, performance management and termination decisions, workplace violence, employment agreements, trade secrets, restrictive covenants, employee handbooks, and personnel policies
  • Drafting employment contracts and offer letters, separation agreements, NDAs, and other employment agreements
  • Advising on employee privacy matters, including under the California Consumer Privacy Act
  • Providing guidance on use of AI in the workplace and development of related policies
  • Leading anti-harassment and other workplace-related trainings, for employees, executives, and boards

Carolyn also works frequently with the firm’s white collar, privacy, employee benefits and executive compensation, corporate, government contracts, and cybersecurity practice groups to ensure that all potential employment issues are addressed in matters handled by these groups.

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Photo of Michelle Barineau Michelle Barineau

Michelle Barineau counsels U.S. and multinational clients on a broad range of employment issues. Michelle routinely provides guidance pertaining to wage and hour compliance, job classifications, pay equity, and employee leave. She also prepares key employment documents including employment agreements, employee policies, and…

Michelle Barineau counsels U.S. and multinational clients on a broad range of employment issues. Michelle routinely provides guidance pertaining to wage and hour compliance, job classifications, pay equity, and employee leave. She also prepares key employment documents including employment agreements, employee policies, and separation agreements.

Michelle guides employers through hiring and terminating employees and managing their performance, as well as workforce change strategies, including reorganizations, reductions in force, and WARN compliance. In addition, Michelle provides practical advice about workplace issues impacting employers including remote work, workplace culture, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and the use of artificial intelligence in the workplace. She helps clients navigate matters involving harassment, discrimination, non-competition, and other issues arising under state and federal employment laws including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Equal Pay Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Fair Labor Standards Act. She assists clients when responding to agency charges and demand letters, including whistleblower retaliation complaints, and frequently interacts with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, state and local equal employment opportunity agencies, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Michelle has experience investigating employment complaints and she frequently partners with white collar colleagues to conduct sensitive internal investigations, workplace culture assessments, and racial equity audits. She works with colleagues in the privacy, employee benefits and executive compensation, and corporate groups when employment matters arise and she regularly works with colleagues in California to advise on matters implicating California employment laws. Michelle is a co-founder of Covington’s AI Roundtable, which convenes senior lawyers at the firm working closely on AI issues to discuss legal implications of AI deployment and use.

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