On July 1, 2015, two important California-specific leave laws are going into effect. As a result, this is a good time of year to think about how leaves are handled by your company, to update your company’s handbook(s) and written policies, and to make sure your company is legally compliant with both federal and state leave laws.
Paid Sick Leave
The first California-specific law is the new paid sick leave law. While this law already required updating postings in the workplace and giving employees an updated Wage Theft Notice on January 1, 2015, the most onerous part of this new law begins on July 1. Beginning on July 1, all employers (with a very few exceptions) who have employees working in the State of California need to begin allowing those employees to accrue paid sick time.
The accrual must begin on July 1 for current employees and on the date of hire for new hires after July 1. Employers may choose between using either an hourly accrual method (one hour for every thirty hours worked) or a lump sum accrual method (three days—note that the new law defines “days” differently for part-time employees and for employees who work an Alternative Workweek Schedule). Companies may choose either option, as long as they comply with the other requirements of the law.
The most important thing to keep in mind about the new law is that employees’ paycheck stubs must include a line item that shows the accrual of paid sick time. The DLSE has advised regarding potential alternatives, but legal counsel should be advised before using one of these alternative methods.
There are penalties associated with violations of the paid sick time law and additional penalties for failure to include all relevant information on paycheck stubs. As a result, it is important to comply with this new law and make sure your postings and handbook are updated accordingly. This is the time to call your payroll company to make sure they are ready to begin placing the accrual amount on paychecks beginning on July 1.
California Family Rights Act (CFRA)
The second law that is being updated on July 1, 2015, is the California Family Rights Act (the CFRA). The CFRA is a state law that is similar to the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA); however, there are important differences between the two laws that California employers need to be familiar with, especially with respect to when the leaves do not run concurrently.
Unlike the paid sick time’s application to all employers with employees in California, the CFRA only applies to employers who do business in California and have fifty or more employees.
The revisions to the CFRA generally serve to broaden the scope of the CFRA—both in terms of making more worksites fall under the CFRA umbrella and also in terms of ensuring that more employees are covered by the CFRA. Where an employee may not have been covered by CFRA under the old law, they may now be covered and entitled to CFRA protection.
Other Leaves
Whenever an employer considers leave issues, it is important to consider the interaction of all potentially available leaves. These include workers’ compensation leave, FMLA/CFRA leaves, leaves required under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Fair Employment and Housing Act, additional state required leaves, and California Pregnancy Disability Leaves. It is also important to keep in mind that Paid Family Leave, State Disability Insurance, short term disability leave and long term disability leave may also come into play.
The complications involved in leaves of absence, especially given that California has so many state specific requirements, often require the help of experienced counsel, as the potential exposure can be great. In one of the more recent leave cases, a Los Angeles jury awarded a customer service representative $21.7 million in damages for her employer’s failure to follow the interactive process and accommodation requirements in leave laws. The vast majority of this award ($16.5 million) was punitive damages to punish the employer’s action.
If you have any questions regarding this blog, please contact Roxanne at Roxanne@torabianlaw.com or (805) 907-6951.
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Roxanne enjoys writing this blog for educational purposes to give readers general information regarding a particular topic, not to provide specific legal advice. Please note that your looking at this blog, reading it, and/or responding to it does not create an attorney-client relationship. In addition, this blog should not be used as legal advice. Rather, please contact a licensed professional attorney in your state should you need help with a particular issue.