SB 1383: Expands Family Medical Leave rights in 2021

The Legislature turned its attention to expanding family care and medical leave rights of employees under the California Family Rights Act with Senate Bill 1383, which took effect Jan. 1.

Previously, the CFRA applied to California employers with 50 or more employees, requiring them to provide 12 workweeks of unpaid protected leave to their California employees (1) for the birth or placement (through adoption or foster care) of a child, (2) to care for a spouse, parent or child with a serious health condition, or (3) due to an employee's own serious health conditions. To be eligible for leave, an employee must be employed for at least 12 months, have worked at least 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months and be employed at a worksite that has 50 or more employees within 75 miles of that worksite.

SB 1383 extended CFRA coverage to small businesses with five or more employees and removed the requirement that employees must work within a 75-mile radius of the same worksite to be eligible for leave. The new law also expanded coverage under the CFRA by extending the statutory definition of "child" to include adult children and children of a domestic partner; permitting leave for the care of a grandparent, grandchild, or domestic partner who has a serious medical condition; and permitting leave because of a "qualifying exigency" related to active military duty of an employee's spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent in the United States armed forces. SB 1383 further removed two exemptions from the CFRA, allowing protected leave for "key employees" who are in the top 10% of highest paid employees and requiring leave be provided to both parents when both work for the same employer.

SB 1383 repealed the New Parent Leave Act, which only went into effect on Jan. 1, 2020. The New Parent Leave Act required that employers with 20 to 49 employees provide employees 12 weeks of unpaid protected leave during any 12-month period to bond with a new child. By extending application of the CFRA to employers with five or more employees, the New Parent Leave Act is no longer necessary.

Large and small employers must comply with the new CFRA requirements as of Jan. 1. Employers with 50 or more employees who have been subject to the CFRA must adjust to ensure compliance with the expanded leave rights, particularly for employees requesting leave to care for family members with serious health conditions and for employees at smaller worksites. Employers with five to 49 employees who have been exempt from the CFRA and the federal Family Medical Leave Act altogether must implement policies and prepare now to administer and provide CFRA leave, particularly since the potential liability for failing to properly do so may disproportionately impact them in comparison to large employers.