The Family and Medical Leave Act allows eligible employees in California and around the country to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave each year to recover from serious medical conditions or attend to family obligations. Employees who have worked for their employers for at least a year and performed 1,250 or more hours of work during the 12 months preceding their leave are covered by the law. The California Family Rights Act provides the similar rights and protections to the Family and Medical Leave Act, but there are a few key differences between the two laws.
The Family and Medical Leave Act
The Family and Medical Leave Act was signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1993. The law allows employees to take unpaid time off work to recover from illnesses or injuries or take care of immediate family members who are seriously ill or injured. Employees can also take unpaid leave after the birth or adoption of a child. Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who take unpaid FMLA leave, and they are required to offer employees who take leave their old jobs or similar jobs when they return to work.
The California Family Rights Act
Only employers with 50 or more employees are required to comply with the provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act, but the California Family Rights Act covers employees who work at companies that employ as few as five people. The California law also differs from the Family and Medical Leave Act by not requiring employees to work within 75 miles of their employers, and it extends the definition of immediate family members to include registered domestic partners. In some situations, eligible California employees may be able to combine the unpaid time off allowed by the two laws to take up to 24 weeks of unpaid leave.
Workplace protections
Both the Family and Medical Leave Act and the California Family Rights Act provide important workplace protections. Both laws allow eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to recover from serious illnesses or injuries or care for seriously ill or injured family members, but the California law covers employees at small companies and includes registered domestic partners as covered family members.