Employment Law Attorney in California

If you do not qualify for FMLA/CFRA protection but you have a need for unpaid leave to address your own disabling condition (temporary and even permanent), your safety net set of statutes are the federal ADA and the California FEHA. The ADA protects those who have a qualifying disabling condition and who work for companies of at least 15 employees. FEHA protects you if you work for a company that employs at least 5 California employees. These statutes prohibit an employer from discriminating against an employee who has a disabling condition by providing a reasonably limited amount of unpaid leave to heal, and by requiring employers to reasonably accommodate employees who desire to return to work with restrictions, if there is a way to modify the job or the workplace in a way that would allow the employee to perform the essential functions of their job without creating an undue hardship on the employer. Leave under these statutes can be much longer than the 12 weeks provided by the FMLA/CFRA. Therefore, employees who qualify for FMLA/CFRA leave are also protected by the ADA and FEHA if their leave exceeds the 12 weeks allowed under those statutes. Generally short-term, transitory illnesses like colds and flues will not qualify an individual as disabled, but generally any condition or injury that affects a major life function, like working, can be used to qualify the employee for these protections. This area of law is very fact-specific, and a one-size-fits-all approach by employers to duties of reasonable accommodation will often lead to unlawful conduct. Because of the complexity of the law in this area, you really need experienced counsel to guide you through the process. And if the employer refuses to allow you to return to work when your restrictions are such that you could do your old job, or another open job in the same company, you need to contact counsel to fight for you.

California was one of the first states to enact a paid sick leave law. Under the Healthy Families Act, California employers are required to provide no less than 3 days of paid sick leave per year, and in some cases the employer can be required to provide up to 6 days of paid sick leave in a year. You must be working for the company for a period of time before you accrue the right to this paid sick leave. The employer can create reasonable procedures for your exercise of your rights under the law, but it is unlawful for an employer to discourage you from using your paid sick leave, or to retaliate against you for using paid sick leave.

In addition to the leave laws described above, if you work for an employer that employs at least five employees in California, the California Pregnancy Disability Leave Law, or PDL, provides you additional leave if you experience a physical or mental condition related to pregnancy or childbirth that prevents you from performing the essential duties of your job, or if your job would cause undue risk to you or the successful completion of your pregnancy. The PDL requires your employer to provide reasonable accommodations to address your pregnancy-related disability, including, but not limited to, modifying your work duties to be less strenuous, use of a stool or chair while performing your work, temporary transfer to a less strenuous or hazardous job within your place of work, provision of longer or more frequent rest periods, private lactation accommodations and/or additional unpaid leave.

California has recently enacted the New Parent Leave Act (“NPLA”) to address many employees who do not work for large enough companies to qualify for the FMLA or CFRA. Under the NPLA employees in California who work for an employer of at least 20 employees within 75 miles of the requesting employee’s place of work are now entitled to the same leave as those employees who qualify under the FMLA and CFRA, discussed above. All other qualification metrics apply – i.e. at least one year with the employer, and put in at least 1,250 hours of work in the year prior to the requested leave. Qualifying employees get the same 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for baby bonding as those under the FMLA/CFRA.