CFRA vs. FMLA in California: Understanding Your Family and Medical Leave Rights

When you need time away from work to care for a new child, recover from a serious health condition, or support a family member, understanding your leave rights can feel overwhelming. California employees may be protected by two overlapping but distinct laws: the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). While these laws share similarities, they differ in important ways that can affect your eligibility and your job protection. This overview explains how they generally work and how they may apply to your circumstances.

What Is the CFRA?

The California Family Rights Act, found at Government Code section 12945.2, generally allows eligible employees to take up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for qualifying reasons. These reasons may include bonding with a new child, caring for a covered family member with a serious health condition, or the employee’s own serious health condition. The CFRA generally applies to employers with 5 or more employees, which means many California workers may be covered even by relatively small employers. Upon eligibility, bonding leave may be available following the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a child.

Under the CFRA, the family members an eligible employee may generally take leave to care for include a child of any age, a spouse, a registered domestic partner, a parent, a parent-in-law, a grandparent, a grandchild, or a sibling. The law may also cover leave to care for a “designated person,” meaning someone with a blood relationship or a family-like relationship to the employee, though an employee may generally be limited to one designated person per 12-month period. For these purposes, “child” may include a biological, adopted, or foster child, a stepchild, a legal ward, or a person to whom the employee stands in the place of a parent, and “parent” may include a biological, foster, adoptive, or step-parent, a parent-in-law, a legal guardian, or a person who stood in the place of a parent to the employee. Because these definitions can be detailed, whether a particular relationship qualifies may depend on your specific circumstances.

What Is the FMLA?

The Family and Medical Leave Act is a federal law that generally provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period to care for a new child, a covered family member with a serious health condition, or the employee’s own serious health condition. The FMLA generally applies to employers with 50 or more employees within 75 miles of the worksite. To be eligible, an employee generally must have worked at least 1,250 hours over the prior 12 months and have at least 12 months of employment with the employer. Because of these thresholds, some employees who qualify under the CFRA may not qualify under the FMLA, and the reverse may also be true depending on the circumstances.

Key Differences in Coverage

One of the most significant differences involves employer size. The CFRA generally covers employers with 5 or more employees, while the FMLA generally applies only to employers with 50 or more employees within 75 miles. This means smaller California employers may be subject to the CFRA but not the FMLA.

Another important distinction involves pregnancy. The CFRA generally does not include pregnancy disability itself, which is instead covered separately under California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) law. The FMLA, by contrast, generally does include pregnancy-related disability as a qualifying serious health condition. These differences may affect how much total leave an employee is potentially eligible for.

Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) and How It Fits

California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave, found at Government Code section 12945 (which is part of the Fair Employment and Housing Act, or “FEHA”), generally allows an employee who is disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition to take up to 4 months of leave. Because the CFRA generally does not cover pregnancy disability itself, PDL and CFRA may, depending on the circumstances, be taken separately. For example, an employee might potentially take PDL for pregnancy-related disability and then, upon eligibility, take CFRA bonding leave afterward. The interplay between these laws can be complex, so consulting a qualified California employment attorney about your specific situation may be helpful.

How CFRA and FMLA Run Concurrently

In many situations, CFRA and FMLA leave may run concurrently, meaning the same period of leave counts toward both entitlements at the same time. However, because the two laws differ, there are circumstances where leave taken under one law may not exhaust leave under the other. For instance, because the FMLA generally includes pregnancy-related disability while the CFRA generally does not, FMLA-covered pregnancy disability leave might run concurrently with PDL rather than CFRA. Depending on the circumstances, this may leave CFRA bonding leave available afterward. The specific sequencing depends on the facts and the applicable law. CFRA and FMLA might also be taken intermittently, depending on the circumstances. CFRA does not need to be taken in one continuous period of time, whereas FMLA can be taken intermittently, if both medically necessary and approved by your employer.

Job Protection and Reinstatement

Both the CFRA and the FMLA generally provide job-protected leave, which means an eligible employee who takes qualifying leave may generally be entitled to reinstatement to the same or a comparable position upon return. Employees may also generally be protected from retaliation for requesting or taking protected leave. If you believe your employer interfered with your leave rights or retaliated against you for exercising them, you may want to consult an attorney to evaluate the circumstances.

Frequently Asked Questions

To discuss your situation, you may reach us at (310) 956-4054 or contact us online. Because filing deadlines vary depending on the type of claim, consider seeking legal advice promptly.