SAN FRANCISCO EMPLOYMENT LAW BLOG

San Diego’s Mayor Todd Gloria has officially signed a new bill into law doubling leave benefits for city employees. The law increases the paid parental leave workers receive from 160 hours to 320 hours, or eight total weeks of full-time work. As such, eligible city employees can take time off to welcome a new child to the family without risking their finances. 

The bill also has several other benefits for employees. It eliminates the 30-day waiting period for pregnancy-related disability benefits, so workers do not need to go a month without financial support due to a difficult pregnancy. Finally, it slashes the eligibility requirement for pregnancy benefits from one year of employment to just 30 days. As a result, people do not have to put off their plans for parenthood for the risk of losing income.

These changes make the city a significantly more appealing employer. They encourage younger workers and marginalized demographics to begin careers within the city by ensuring they can still start and support their families despite the high cost of living. They also provide invaluable support for women, who are more likely to exit the workforce to care for new children if their employer does not offer benefits. 

However, it is important to note that benefits for city employees are very different from protected leave. While Mayor Gloria’s bill is an excellent step forward, it is not the same kind of leave guaranteed by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). Here’s how these types of policies differ and how they may impact your plans. 

The Differences Between Employer and Governmental Leave

The CFRA and FMLA are government programs guaranteeing workers the right to a certain amount of time off for qualifying events. Under the CFRA, covered employers must grant qualifying employees 12 weeks of unpaid leave per year for certain events. Covered employers include all companies with five or more workers and all public and government institutions, regardless of size. 

Qualifying employees are those who have worked for an employer for at least 12 months and have performed 1250 hours of work for that employer in the last year. These workers may take unpaid leave to care for a designated person, recover from a significant medical event or condition, or welcome a new child into the family. 

Critically, CFRA and FMLA compliance is not optional. Employers cannot fire someone for requesting or taking protected time off. They cannot retaliate against them, either. When the employee returns, they must be given their previous job back, including their former hours, responsibilities, location, and title. 

This is very different from employer-offered paid-leave plans. Employers can offer whatever type of leave they want. However, this time is not protected, nor is it guaranteed. Every organization can set its requirements and criteria for time off, so you may not be eligible for your employer’s program. Furthermore, organizations do not need to return workers to their previous positions if they take unprotected time off. This is true of private and government employers alike. As such, paid parental leave programs are not always as secure as unpaid, protected alternatives. 

Can Your Employer Change Your Leave Benefits?

While Mayor Gloria’s change to employee benefits is positive, it raises an important question. When and how can your employer change benefits like paid leave? Employers generally have the right to change the fringe benefits they offer, such as paid time off (PTO) and leave, whenever they want. However, there are some exceptions. 

First, if paid parental leave is explicitly part of your employment contract, your employer cannot rescind it without your permission. However, matters become more complex if your contract lumps this time off into “other benefits as provided” or states that it may be subject to change. 

Second, if you work for an organization subject to a collective bargaining agreement, your employer may not be permitted to change your benefits. This agreement is just as binding as your employment contract. 

Third, if you work for a government, such as the city of San Diego, local laws may provide more guarantees about your PTO. Changing a law is significantly more complex than altering a private organization’s policies. As such, your benefits are less likely to change for the worse.

When Do Leave Changes Violate Your Rights?

Your employer may be able to alter your benefits, but certain changes violate your rights. Unlawful actions include:

• Cutting your benefits to lower than local, state, or federal minimums
• Setting policies that bar you from taking protected leave
• Revoking paid time off without paying you the equivalent amount
• Retaliating against you for requesting CFRA or FMLA time

If you experience any of these changes, your employer is violating your rights. This is true whether you work for a public or private organization. You can take a stand to ensure you receive the benefits and time off you are guaranteed under the law. 

Talk to Le Clerc & Le Clerc LLP

Cities around California are beginning to implement laws like San Diego’s, guaranteeing workers paid time off to care for new children. If you live in one of these cities, you may be owed up to eight weeks’ paid leave when welcoming your child into the world. If you are not granted this time, your employer may be violating your rights. If you believe your employer has violated your right to time off, you can get help. At Le Clerc & Le Clerc LLP, we specialize in protecting California workers’ employee rights. You can schedule your free consultation today to discuss your situation and learn more about your rights under state and local law. Our California employment lawyers are available to help you hold your employer accountable for providing you with the paid or unpaid leave you’re owed.

California has spent years expanding workers’ rights statewide. While many of the recent changes rightfully receive the spotlight, this can push older but just as important regulations from the public eye. For example, the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act is one of the state’s fundamental workers’ rights laws but has rarely received focused attention since it was enacted in 2015. 

This Act is responsible for guaranteeing many California employees paid sick leave. It is one of the broadest paid leave mandates in the nation. Here’s what you should understand about the Act, how it applies to you, and what to do if your employer unjustly tries to deny you leave.

What Is the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act?

The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families (HWHF) Act is a California law first passed in 2014 requiring all employers, regardless of size, to offer their employees a minimum amount of paid sick leave (PSL) annually. The law was first implemented to give workers guaranteed time to care for themselves or their families each year without sacrificing pay. 

PSL is different from time taken under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or due to workers’ compensation. FMLA leave is unpaid unless the recipient qualifies for Paid Parental Leave. Meanwhile, workers’ compensation allows you to receive disability benefits but not pay on your normal paycheck. Additionally, PSL differs from paid vacation days unless it is included in a broader PTO policy meeting certain requirements. 

Your Rights Under the HWHF Act

Under the HWHF Act, employers must offer their employees either 24 hours or three days of paid sick leave per year, whichever is greater. While this is the minimum required under law, employers may offer more. 

You are eligible for PSL in California if you have worked for the same employer for at least 30 days in the past year in California. No employers are exempt from this requirement to offer PSL. You must be offered PSL whether you are part-time, full-time, temporary, or salaried. 

When possible, you must provide your employer with “reasonable” notice to request PSL. For example, if you know about a doctor’s appointment in advance, you should give your employer several days of notice. 

If your employer requires you to work an alternative schedule, meaning something other than a regular eight-hour shift, they are still required to give you the equivalent of three days of paid leave. For example, if you routinely work 12-hour shifts three days a week, your employer must grant you at least 36 hours of time total. 

This leave can be used to recover if you are sick, to attend medical appointments, or to care for a sick family member. Time taken under the HWHF Act is protected, so it may not be used to make adverse employment decisions about workers. For instance, your employer cannot fire, demote, refuse to promote, cut hours, or reduce your working conditions because you take PSL. Additionally, if your employer has an absence policy, the first three days or 24 hours of PSL you take in a given year may not count toward absence-based penalties.

Your employer can choose from several ways to offer you PSL, including:

• Statutory Mandated Accrual: Your employer can award you one hour of paid sick leave per 30 hours worked, including overtime, beginning the day you begin work. This must continue to accrue up to 24 hours total in a year. Employers may but do not need to cap paid time off at 24 hours. Accrued time must roll over to the next year if it is not taken. However, employers may also restrict the total amount of leave that rolls over to 48 hours or six days.
• Optional Accrual: Businesses may use other accrual methods to calculate PSL as long as these methods lead to regular time accrual and ensure employees have accrued at least 24 hours of sick leave by the 120^th calendar day of the year. This must also permit unused hours to roll over.
• Lump-Sum: Companies may offer workers “lump-sum” PSL, providing all workers with a set amount of sick leave at the start of the year. These lump-sum policies do not need to permit hours to roll over to the next year. 

Any of these programs can also be combined with other forms of PTO as long as they permit workers to take the requisite time off for health needs. 

Can Your Employer Deny You Sick Leave?

Your employer must grant you PSL upon your written or verbal request. More importantly, your employer should not demand a doctor’s note for the first three days or 24 hours of sick time you request in a year. It may not ask for further details about your health or that of your family, either. In other words, if you are eligible for PSL, your employer cannot deny you the time you have accrued, with limited exceptions. 

First, your employer does not need to permit you to take more than your total accrued paid time off per year. If you need additional time to recover, attend medical appointments, or care for sick family, you may request unpaid FMLA time instead. 

Additionally, companies may prevent workers from taking paid sick leave in the first 90 days of their employment. If your employer has this policy, you are not eligible to request or receive PSL until the 91^st calendar day of your employment. Any sick leave you need during this time is not protected. 

Outside these two scenarios, your employer must grant you PSL upon request, up to what you have accrued. If you are denied this leave or face retaliation for taking time off to care for yourself or your family, you can take legal action. If you believe you have been illegally denied PSL or suffered retaliation from your employer for taking it, you should contact the skilled attorneys at the San Francisco employment law firm Le Clerc & Le Clerc LLP. Our team has years of experience representing employees who have experienced illegal rights violations in California. Learn more about how we can assist you by scheduling your consultation today.

Before parenthood, you most likely had plenty of time to devote to your career. While it may not always be convenient, you can usually take on extra work responsibilities, do overtime, and generally put your work first. Your partner, family, and friends understand if you must stay late at work or miss an event. It’s just part of being a good employee, supposedly. 

Having a child changes that. Suddenly, your job can no longer be your top priority. Your kids need your time, attention, and energy more than your employer ever could. However, you still need to maintain your career to give your children the life they deserve. You need to find a new work-life balance.

Every family’s circumstances are different, so there’s no single answer as to the “right” type of work-life balance for a new parent. Instead, it’s up to you to understand your rights so you’re prepared to make the changes that work for you. If you’re expecting a new child, now is the time to learn about your rights under California law to care for your family while maintaining your career. 

The Many Demands of Being a Working Parent

Becoming a working parent will likely cause you to change your approach to work out of necessity. A few of the many new demands that you may face because of parenthood include:

• Pregnant people may need time off during and after their pregnancies to ensure healthy delivery and recovery from labor.
• After returning to work, lactating people may need time to pump milk. 
• Both parents may want to take time off to care for a brand-new child. 
• Children can get sick, so parents may need more time off work to care for them.
• Parents must enroll children in school or daycare, so they may need time to visit open-house days.
• Similarly, parents may need to leave work to pick up their kids if an emergency happens at school.

In short, parenthood means you are more likely to take time away from work to care for your kids. However, you still have obligations to your job. The biggest demand on a parent who maintains their career is finding ways to balance these competing needs healthily. 

Making the Most of California’s Legal Protections for Working Parents

Despite these new demands, you may feel uncomfortable taking time off work to care for your family. Many new parents fear that this could hurt their careers. 

It’s not unreasonable to worry about this. Some employers do resent giving their employees the time they need to start or care for their families. However, California laws specifically protect your right to become a working parent, whether adopting, fostering, or having a biological child. Here’s what you need to know about your rights as a parent in the workplace in California.

Pregnancy Protections

Both state and federal law provide specific protections for pregnant people in the workforce. This comes in two forms:

• Pregnancy disability leave: Being pregnant was not initially considered a disability for workers to receive protected time off. However, California has implemented regulations requiring employers to provide up to four months of protected leave to people who cannot safely work while carrying a healthy pregnancy to term. 
• Accommodations for pregnant workers: Pregnant people who find their ability to work is limited because of their condition can request reasonable accommodations from their employer, such as altered work hours, altered duties, chairs for jobs normally performed standing, and more. 

Parental Leave

Under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), parents of all genders are eligible for up to 12 weeks of unpaid, protected leave during the first year after welcoming a new child into their family. In California, parents can take this leave simultaneously or consecutively. 

Additionally, California offers a Paid Parental Leave (PPL) program that offers new parents up to 70% of their average wages for up to eight weeks if they are eligible for unpaid leave. In 2025, this will rise to 90% of the average salary for low-income parents.

CFRA and FMLA Leave

These programs permit more than just parental leave. If your child gets sick and requires dedicated help, you can request FMLA or CFRA leave to care for them. You can take up to 12 weeks of leave from your covered employer per 12-month period to care for an ill child with the guarantee that your job will be waiting for you when you return.

School Leave

Parents with school-age children can take up to eight hours a month and 40 hours a year to handle tasks related to their kids’ enrollment in school or daycare. This includes picking up children due to school emergencies, participating in school events, and attending open houses to find a new school.

Freedom From Discrimination

While discrimination against parents is not specifically illegal in California, current regulations make many potential types of discrimination unlawful. For example, it is against the law to discriminate against a worker for taking any form of leave mentioned above. Additionally, it may be considered unlawful gender discrimination if an employer terminates or refuses to promote a woman because she has or intends to have children.

Feel Safe Reclaiming Your Work-Life Balance as a Parent

There are few places in the U.S. where being a working parent is easier than in California. If you are expecting a child, you can trust that state laws protect your right to take the time you need to care for them. If your employer does violate your rights, you can hold them accountable for their actions. The first step is to talk to the expert California employment lawyers at Le Clerc & Le Clerc LLP. We have decades of experience representing employees who have had their rights violated at work. Get in touch today to learn how we can help you file a parental leave discrimination claim.

Children are a full-time responsibility, which can be a problem if you’re also a full-time employee. Working parents need to balance the need to care for their children with their duties at their jobs. 

But what happens when these needs conflict? What if you must pick up your child from daycare early for illness or participate in a school event? Unscrupulous or uncaring employers may threaten your employment for participating in parenthood’s routine demands.

Luckily, if you live in California, you may have the right to take time off for these situations. Here’s how California protects parents who need school-activities leave and how to request it. 

California School-Activities Leave Laws

According to California Labor Code Section 230.8, covered employees are eligible for up to 40 hours of time off per year for activities specifically related to school or licensed childcare providers. This unique form of parental leave may be used for a variety of purposes, including:

• Participating in activities at the school or licensed daycare. This includes volunteering at the facility, attending parent-teacher conferences, and participating in field trips.  
• Enrolling or re-enrolling children at a facility. Anything a parent must do to ensure their kids become or remain enrolled in school or childcare is covered under this leave, including attending open houses to find a new facility.
• Addressing emergencies. If an emergency occurs, such as the child needs to be picked up, a behavioral meeting is requested, or a health problem arises, employees have the right to take time off to address the issue.

The law is not restricted to legal parents, either. Section 230.8 treats the following people as parents who are eligible:

• Biological and adoptive parents
• Foster parents
• Stepparents
• Legal guardians
• Grandparents
• Anyone standing in loco parentis over a child

In other words, if you are directly responsible for caring for a child, you likely have the right to this time off under state law. Furthermore, covered employers may not retaliate against you in any way for requesting school-related parental leave.

Restrictions on School-Related Leave

Unfortunately, not every employee is covered under Section 230.8. The law only applies to employers with 25 or more employees. Furthermore, only workers with children in school between kindergarten and grade 12 are eligible. If your child is too young for kindergarten or you work for a small business, you may not be eligible to take time off. 

Furthermore, employees must provide their employer with reasonable notice before taking this type of leave. While employers may not deny the request, they may request proof that the time was dedicated to school- or daycare-related activities, such as a letter from the facility. Furthermore, except for emergencies, employees may only take up to eight hours of time off per month under this law.

You should also note that California childcare leave only accounts for needs directly related to the child’s education or daycare. It does not account for caring for kids who must stay home for the day because they’re sick, unless facility policy prevents them from attending. A parent may use sick leave or vacation time instead in that case. 

Finally, school-activities leave is not necessarily paid. Employers may require workers to use vacation, personal, and other non-sick leave before granting additional time. Employees may also choose to use any unpaid time off their employer provides. 

How to Request Daycare Leave at Work

If you need to handle responsibilities for your child’s school or daycare, in most cases, you must give your employer advance notice. Here’s how to request time off correctly to reduce the risk of your employer illegally denying you the time you’re due:

• Keep track of the time you’ve already taken off for school activities. While you can take up to eight hours off in one month for childcare needs outside of emergencies, the total amount of protected time per calendar year is limited to 40 hours. Additionally, you can only take eight total hours per year for enrollment needs. Keep track of the time you’ve taken to ensure you remain under your limit. 
• Determine if the reason you’ll be gone is covered under Section 230.8. Only activities specifically related to school or daycares are covered. Planned holidays, early closures, and children’s illnesses that prevent them from attending do not count, but snow days or a child’s unexpected illness do. Suppose your request is not covered under Section 230.8. In that case, you may be able to request leave under California’s Healthy Workplaces Healthy Families Act, which allows you to take up to three paid days off per year to care for yourself or your family.
• Provide reasonable notice if possible. If an issue is not an emergency, notify your employer as early as possible. What is considered “reasonable” varies based on the circumstances. For example, you cannot reasonably tell your employer you must leave for a behavioral conference before the conference is scheduled. If an emergency arises and you must leave immediately, inform your employer as soon as possible.
• Prepare documentation proving the reason for your leave. Documentation may include itineraries for field trips, tickets for open houses, notes from the school or daycare (ideally on branded letterhead), or other communications that demonstrate you had a valid reason for taking time away. However, you do not need to reveal specific details regarding your child’s health or behavior.

If you provide this information, covered employers may not deny your request for leave or retaliate against you for taking the time.

Consult Expert Employment Law Attorneys About Denied School Leave

Some employers disregard laws regarding protected leave. If your employer must provide school-activities leave and denies your request or penalizes you for taking time off, you have legal options. The first step is to consult with the skilled lawyers at Le Clerc & Le Clerc LLP. Our Bay Area employment law attorneys understand the complexities of California’s many protections for working parents. We will help you determine if you have a claim and help you pursue justice and compensation for your employer’s rights violations. Schedule your consultation today to learn more.