Parental Leave - San Francisco Employment Lawyer | Bay Area Discrimination Attorney

Can Working Parents Take Leave for Their Children’s School or Daycare Needs?

On Behalf of Le Clerc Le Clerc LLP
April 11, 2023
Parental Leave

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.

Rights of Adoptive Parents in the Workplace

On Behalf of Le Clerc Le Clerc LLP
April 6, 2023
Employment Law, Parental Leave

While adoption is not the most common way of starting a family, it’s incredibly important. It benefits both prospective parents and the children who may otherwise grow up in the foster care system. Still, because it is less common, there is less social awareness of the needs and struggles new adoptive parents may face.

This is particularly noticeable in the workplace, where new parents may already struggle. Frequently, California adoptive parents experience harsher expectations and less sympathy from their employers than colleagues who welcome biological children. This can make it more difficult for your family to settle into your new life, particularly if you are refused time off to bond with your child.

If you are considering or in the middle of the adoption process, you should be aware of parents’ rights in California. The state specifically references adoption in the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), which dictates how employers must treat new parents.

Do Adoptive Parents Have Different Rights in California?

In short, no. Once you have legally adopted a child, that child is treated as if they were biologically yours. After finalizing an adoption, you have all the rights and responsibilities as you would for a biological child.

The same is not true of foster families. Fostering children is just as important, but fosters do not always receive the same rights as adoptive or biological parents. The child’s legal parents and the state retain rights and responsibilities for them unless and until they are adopted.

One of the crucial points where the rights of foster, adoptive, and biological parents overlap is at work. Under California law, welcoming a new child into your family in any of these situations is grounds for taking parental leave, taking time off to care for a sick kid, or otherwise prioritizing your responsibilities as a parent.

California Parents’ Rights in the Workplace

California has a number of laws protecting parents’ rights to fair employment and time off to bond and care for their kids. These include:

Freedom From Discrimination: While parenthood is not a protected class, medical needs and requests for covered time off are considered protected in California. No employer may discriminate, terminate, or retaliate against a prospective parent for requesting family leave.
Parental Leave: The CFRA requires employers to give eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave after welcoming a new foster child, adoptive child, or infant to their family.
Paid Family Leave (PFL): If a parent is eligible for unpaid parental leave, they are likely also eligible for PFL. The program compensates workers up to 70% of their average salary for up to eight weeks of bonding leave with any new child.
Childcare Time Off: Employers with at least 25 employees must grant parents and fosters are up to 40 hours a year or eight hours a month of time off to “participate in school and licensed day-care activities” with reasonable notice and after using other sources of leave first.

There are a few points where adoption does not grant the same rights to workers as giving birth. These include:

Leave for pregnancy: The state grants pregnant people the option to take disability leave separately from their child bonding leave if necessary for their health. California adoptive parents do not receive this, since they are not bearing the child themselves.
Schedule alterations: Pregnant people have the right to request schedule adjustments and other accommodations to ensure they remain healthy during their pregnancy.
Accommodations for nursing: Similarly, adoptive parents rarely receive nursing accommodations unless they are nursing another child.

Eligibility for Parental Leave

Not every new parent is eligible for parental leave, unfortunately. The CFRA only applies to public organizations or companies with at least five employees. If you are self-employed or work for a particularly small company, your employer is not obligated to provide you leave or protect your position while you’re out.

Additionally, even employees at covered businesses must meet two eligibility criteria:

You must have worked for your employer for at least twelve months
During that time, you must have worked at least 1250 hours for your employer

This is still better than federal FMLA leave. CFRA leave does not have exemptions for critical employees and applies to significantly more employers and employees statewide.

Do You Need to Inform Your Employer About Adoption?

Some prospective parents are hesitant to inform their employers that they will be adopting. Since parents are not a protected class, they may fear that their employer could fire them. They may just worry that their manager will assume they will be less dedicated to the job as a parent. However, concealing your attempt to adopt a child may be unwise, and may not even be possible.

For instance, most adoptions require the prospective parents to provide a letter from their employers to prove they have ongoing income and are in good standing. To receive this, you’ll need to tell your employer about your plans.

Furthermore, if your employer is not aware that you are adopting, they do not have to grant you time off. It is better to tell them in advance so they can plan for your eventual time off. If they do retaliate against you for requesting protected leave, you can take legal action to hold them accountable for your losses.

Standing Up for Parental Workplace Rights in California

Adopting a child is a stressful process. The last thing you should have to do once the adoption is finalized is to stand up to employment family responsibilities discrimination alone. At Le Clerc & Le Clerc LLP, we can help. We have decades of experience protecting parents’ rights in the workplace and ensuring they receive the leave they’re owed. Learn more about how we can assist you with denied bonding leave requests by scheduling your free consultation.

San Francisco’s Paid Parental Leave Ordinance: What You Need to Know

On Behalf of Le Clerc Le Clerc LLP
March 16, 2023
Parental Leave

Parents in California are covered by some of the most comprehensive parental leave laws in the U.S. However, while these laws are better than they are in many states, they still leave a lot to be desired.

For example, private employers are not required to provide workers with paid parental leave. Instead, eligible workers must request unpaid parental leave from their employer, then request Paid Family Leave (PFL) benefits from the California State Disability Insurance fund. These benefits last eight weeks and only cover up to 70% of the employee’s average weekly pay. While this is significantly better than a completely unpaid parental leave, it can still leave many new families struggling to pay bills.

Some California municipalities have taken steps to rectify the problem, though. For example, the city of San Francisco has implemented a law known as the Paid Parental Leave Ordinance (PPLO) to supplement workers’ finances during the earliest days of welcoming a new child into the family.

PPLO is invaluable for eligible workers but is not a guaranteed benefit. If you are preparing to welcome a new child into your family and regularly work in San Francisco, you should understand how SF PPLO works and how to make the most of this unique benefit.

What Is San Francisco’s Paid Parental Leave Ordinance?

The Paid Parental Leave Ordinance is a law that requires employers to provide “supplemental compensation” to eligible workers who are on parental leave. The law intends to ensure that employees receive the equivalent of their full salary while they are on paid leave. SF PPLO payments for eligible employees are paid after PFL benefits are granted and calculated using the awarded benefits.

PFL benefits range from 60-70% of an employee’s weekly salary, currently capped at $1620 weekly. For example, if you earn $2000 per week before tax, you would receive $1200 per week in PFL benefits upon successfully applying. If you are also eligible for PPLO, your employer would be expected to pay you an additional $800 per week to make up the funds you otherwise would not receive.

This is particularly valuable for families in and around San Francisco, which has one of the highest cost of living indexes in the country. In a city where renting a two-bedroom apartment costs an average of $4300 a month and the median home value is $1,195,700, every dollar counts. New parents eligible for SF PPLO can use the benefit to ensure that starting a family doesn’t force them to move away.

PFL vs. PPLO: Eligibility and Benefits

The eligibility requirements for PFL and PPLO are similar but not the same. Here’s how the two benefits programs compare:

Requirements	PFL	PPLO
Employment Location	All of California	Workers who work at least 8 hours a week and 40% or more of their total hours for the employer in San Francisco
Conditions	Applicants must be employed or looking for work and unable to perform their normal duties because they have welcomed a new baby, adopted child, or foster child into their family in the past year. Typically, if a person is eligible for unpaid CFRA leave due to a new child, they are also eligible for PFL.	Workers must currently be employed and receiving PFL benefits.
Amount Paid	60-70% of an employee’s average earnings during a 13-month “base period” from 18 to 5 months before the leave begins, capped at $1620 weekly in 2023.	An employee’s average weekly salary minus PFL benefits, capped at $1080 per week to reach $2700 total.
Employer Eligibility	5 or more employees	20 or more employees internationally
Weekly Hours	Amy amount	At least 8 hours a week
Employment Duration	26 consecutive weeks of employment for workers who work 20 hours a week or more, or 175 days if they work fewer than 20 hours a week	180 days
Length	8 weeks	8 weeks

What to Do If Your Employer Denies PPLO

If you work in San Francisco, you may be relying on PPLO to cover some of your bills after welcoming a new child. That can make a denial from your employer particularly painful. However, suppose you meet the eligibility requirements listed above. In that case, your employer must pay you PPLO, regardless of where they are headquartered or whether you’re taking FMLA leave. The only exception is if it already has another paid leave program that compensates you equally. Failing to pay you appropriately, or retaliating against you for requesting PPLO, may give you the right to take legal action.

According to municipal law, the San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE) is usually responsible for investigating and prosecuting PPLO denials. However, if the OLSE and City Attorney does not take legal action within 90 days of receiving written notice of a complaint, you may file a civil claim against your employer directly. You can use this claim to pursue up to treble the supplemental compensation you did not receive, as well as attorneys fees and legal costs.

Of course, when you’re busy adjusting to life as a new parent, the last thing you want to do is to fight a legal battle alone. With Le Clerc & Le Clerc LLP on your side, you don’t have to. We are dedicated to protecting the rights of workers with families around California. Our experienced attorneys understand the importance of receiving fair supplemental compensation during parental time off in San Francisco. If your employer denies your PPLO claim, we can help. Learn more about how we can assist you with an unpaid PPLO claim by scheduling your consultation with our parental leave attorneys today.

Making the Most of Private Parental Leave

On Behalf of Le Clerc Le Clerc LLP
March 1, 2023
Employment Law, Parental Leave

California has some of the country’s strongest laws regarding parental leave. However, the relative strength of these laws does not mean all workers are guaranteed the same amount of leave. Some employers choose to offer their workers additional time off as a benefit to attract more talent.

This private, employer-based leave is invaluable for many new parents. The problem is that since it is not guaranteed under the law, it can be more difficult to hold employers accountable if they attempt to block workers from taking the promised time off. Here’s what you need to know about different types of parental leave in California and what to do if your employer attempts to block you from taking the time off you were promised in your employment contract.

The Difference Between FMLA Leave and Employer-Based Leave

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) both guarantee workers up to twelve weeks of protected, unpaid leave in a twelve-month period. These laws specifically allow eligible employees to take time away from work after welcoming a new child into the family with a guarantee that their job will still be there when they get back.

California also goes a step further. Under the state Paid Family Leave (PFL) program, people who need to take time off for a family reason, such as bonding with a new child, can request partial wage-replacement benefits for up to eight weeks. Eligible workers can receive 60-70% of their weekly wages for those eight weeks from the government. Generally, most employed people qualified for PFL is also eligible for CFRA or FMLA leave, allowing them to take publicly-funded paid parental time away from work.

Under the CFRA, only employers with five or more employees or state and local governments must provide workers with unpaid time away. Furthermore, you need to have been working for your employer for at least 12 months and 1250 hours before you specifically are eligible for this time.

This is very different from the programs some employers offer. Private employers with parental time off programs can set significantly different terms for eligibility, length, and pay as long as they are equivalent to or better than those already guaranteed by the state. For example, some employers only require workers to be at the company for 90 days before they are eligible. Others, like Google, provide workers with up to 24 weeks of leave, an unprecedented amount in the U.S.

When Can an Employer Deny Parental Leave?

The problem with employer-based paternity or maternity time is that it is not granted the same protections as state-mandated leave. Instead, it is treated like other benefits like vacation time or sick leave. While employers are required to live up to their contracts with their employees, it can be significantly more difficult to fight back if they do attempt to violate these agreements. Unless an employer fails to meet the requirements set by the state of California, failing to provide the contractually promised amount of time off is considered a contract violation, not a workers’ rights violation.

In addition, private new child policies often have stricter scheduling requirements than government alternatives. According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, an employer can deny requests for medical leave when it is not protected under federal or state law in many circumstances.

This includes situations where finding someone to replace you for the duration of leave would be particularly difficult, or the length of your break will pose “significant difficulty or expense” to your employer. You must read your employment contract and your employer’s HR policies carefully to determine what amount of time off you are guaranteed under your agreement.

This does not mean that you have no recourse, though. If your employer promised you paid parental time and refuses to grant it to you, they are breaching the employment contract. You can still take legal action to pursue the compensation and time away you’re owed.

What to Do If You’re Denied Parental Leave Under Your Company’s Policy

California courts take violations of employment contracts very seriously. You can fight back if your employer reneges on your contract or makes it unreasonably difficult to access the parental leave you were promised. Here’s how to get started:

Gather relevant documentation: Collect paperwork such as your employment contract and HR policies for your company. These should provide a clear idea of the type of compensation and time off you were offered. It would help if you also gathered any communications regarding your leave request and any updates to the policies that may have occurred after you were hired.
Submit a formal complaint with HR: If you have not already done so, submit a formal, written complaint to your HR department, and keep a copy of that complaint yourself. Request a written response rather than a verbal one to ensure there is a paper trail if your request for time away is denied again.
Consult with an experienced attorney: Skilled legal counsel is vital any time you have a contract dispute with your employer. Your attorney will help you understand your rights and determine the best path forward, whether that is negotiating with your employer or filing a lawsuit.

At Le Clerc & Le Clerc LLP, we specialize in helping parents and families who have been impacted by unfair and illegal employment practices. We are available to help you pursue the time off you were promised in your employment contract so you can spend time with your new child. Learn more about how we can help you stand up for your right to paid parental leave by scheduling your consultation with our skilled California employment law attorneys today.

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