Family Leave Law Goes into Effect

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which takes effect today, will alter workplaces across the country by providing many employees the right to take unpaid leaves of absence to handle medical or family emergencies.

California has had an expansive leave law since January, 1992, so the changes here will be less noticeable than in many other parts of the country. Still, where the new federal law is more generous for employees than the California statute, the federal standards will prevail.

Here are the main elements of the new federal law and some of the changes it will mean for Californians:

Basic Elements of the New Law

Who is covered: Most workers at firms with 50 or more employees who have worked 1,250 hours within the previous 12 months. (Part-time employees who have worked fewer hours may be eligible under state law if they have worked continuously for one year and are eligible for at least one other type of employer-provided benefit.)

Approved reasons for taking leaves: Birth or adoption of a child; arranging placement of a child in foster care; serious health condition suffered by the employee or by the employee’s spouse, parent or children under 18.

Length of leaves: Up to 12 weeks within a 12-month period. Leaves can be continuous, intermittent or accomplished through a reduced schedule. (State law allows up to 16 weeks over a two-year period.) Where possible, workers are required to give employers at least 30 days notice of a pending leave and to make a reasonable effort to schedule treatment at a time that does not unduly disrupt the employer’s operations.

Job Protection: Returning employees ordinarily must be restored to the jobs they held when their leaves began, or to similar jobs with equivalent benefits and pay. But an employee has no right to return to a job that would have been eliminated even if the leave had not been taken.

How the Federal Law Expands Benefits for California’s Workers

* Grants leaves, in some cases, for workers who have worked intermittently.

* Provides greater flexibility in taking leaves. For instance, the federal law allows a worker to take a single day off every week, if necessary, to handle a medical or family emergency.

* Grants leaves for seriously ill employees. (State law provides leaves for workers who have an ill parent, spouse or child, but does not authorize time off for employees who themselves are sick.)

* Adds becoming a foster parent to the approved reasons for taking leaves.

* Requires employers to continue paying same share of an employee’s health insurance as when the employee was working.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Call the local district office of the U.S. Department of Labor’s wage and hour division: Glendale, (213) 894-2685 or (818) 240-5274; Santa Ana, (714) 836-2156; and San Diego, (619) 557-5606.

Sources: Jackson, Lewis, Schnitzler & Krupman; William M. Mercer Inc.; A. Foster Higgins & Co.