BILL ANALYSIS �
Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
Ted W. Lieu, Chair
Date of Hearing: April 24, 2013 2013-2014 Regular
Session
Consultant: Deanna D. Ping Fiscal:Yes
Urgency: No
Bill No: SB 770
Author: Jackson
As Introduced: February 22, 2013
SUBJECT
Unemployment compensation: disability benefits: paid family
leave
KEY ISSUE
Should the legislature extend the definition of family within
the Paid Family Leave program to include seriously ill siblings,
grandparents, grandchildren, and parents-in-law?
ANALYSIS
Existing law, under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA),
entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid,
job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons.
Eligible employees are entitled to:
Twelve workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for:
o Bonding with a newborn or adopted child
o Caring for a family member with a serious
health condition (includes parent, spouse, child,
registered domestic partner and same sex spouse)
o The employee's own serious health condition
(excluding pregnancy).
Eligible employees must meet the following conditions:
o worked more than 12 months of service with the
employer, and who has at least 1,250 hours of service
with the employer during the previous 12 month period
o worked at a location in which the employer has
at least 50 employees within 75 miles of the
employee's worksite.
Guaranteed reinstatement to the same or comparable
position after taking family leave under CFRA and FMLA
(Gov Code �12945.2)
Existing federal law, under the Family and Medical Leave Act
(FMLA ), also entitles eligible employees to take unpaid,
job-protected leave for up to 12 weeks . This leave, granted
under both the state CFRA and the federal FMLA must be taken
concurrently. (�105 of the FMLA and �825.220 of FMLA
regulations)
Existing law established a family temporary disability insurance
program, Paid Family Leave (PFL) that provides up to six weeks
of wage replacement benefits to workers who take time off work
to care for:
a seriously ill child, spouse, parent, or domestic
partner, or to bond with a minor child in connection with
foster care or adoption. (Unemployment Insurance Code
�3301)
Existing law states that an individual is eligible to receive
temporary disability insurance benefits equal to one-seventh of
his or her weekly benefit amount for each full day during which
he or she is unable to work due to caring for a seriously ill or
injured family member or bonding with a minor child within one
year of the birth or placement of the child in connection with
foster care or adoption. (Unemployment Insurance Code �3301)
This Bill would broaden the definition of family within the Paid
Family Leave program to allow workers to receive the partial
wage replacement benefits while taking care of seriously ill
siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and parents-in-law.
COMMENTS
1. Background on Paid Family Leave Benefits Program
The California Paid Family Leave Act (PFLA), the first such
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Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
paid family leave program in the nation, was established in
2004. According to the Labor Project for Working Families and
UC Berkeley's report, A Guide to Implementing Paid Family
Leave: Lessons From California, the program was modeled after
the California State Disability Insurance Program (SDI). PFL
provides up to six weeks of partial pay for employees who take
leave from work to care for a child, parent, spouse, or
registered domestic partner with a serious health condition or
to bond with a newborn baby or newly adopted or foster child.
Much like SDI, it is funded through a payroll tax paid
entirely by employees and is administered by the same state
agency - the Employment Development Department (EDD). Like
disability benefits, an employee that takes paid family leave
can receive a wage replacement of up to 55 percent of the
individual's average weekly salary. All employees who pay into
the State Disability Insurance Fund are covered by Paid Family
Leave. There are no minimum work hours or time of service
requirements, but individuals must have earned at least $300
in wages during the previous 12 months.
2. The Interaction Between FMLA/CFRA and Paid Family Leave
There are various federal and state laws pertaining to family
leave - making it important to understand the differences
between the statutes as well as how they interact with one
another. The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is a federal
law that is administered by the U.S. Department of Labor while
the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) is a state law
administered by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
The state law changed in 1993 to generally conform to the
provisions of the FMLA. Both the FMLA and CFRA allow an
eligible employee to take up to a total of twelve
job-protected workweeks of leave with employer-paid health,
dental, and vision benefits during a "rolling" twelve month
period. The twelve weeks of leave must run concurrently for
all purposes aside from:
Leave to care for a domestic partner (CFRA only)
Disabilities due to pregnancy or pregnancy-related
condition (FMLA only)
Leave for a qualifying exigency related to a family
member's military service (FMLA only)
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Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
Leave to care for an ill or injured service member
(FMLA only)
If an eligible FMLA/CFRA employee also elects to receive wage
replacement benefits from the Paid Family Leave program then
the PFL must be taken concurrently as well.
In addition to sharing similar leave provisions and
eligibility requirements, both the FMLA and CFRA have
anti-retaliation and discrimination provisions.
3. Need for this bill?
PFL is a state-sponsored insurance program that covers
employers of any size. PFL provides partial wage replacement
for up to six weeks in any 12-month period, allowing an
employee to care for a seriously ill or injured family member
or bonding with a minor child within one year of the child's
birth or placement in connection with foster care or adoption.
However, according to the author's office, California's
current definition of family for Paid Family Leave excludes
siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and parents-in-law -
failing to reflect many Californians' caregiving
responsibilities.
In February of 2007, the Senate Office of Research published a
report on Paid Family Leave titled, Balancing Work and Family.
The report stated that between the period of July 1, 2004 and
June 30, 2006 the Employment Development Department rejected
10 percent of Paid Family Leave claims because the employee
sought leave for an excluded family member. Most of the denied
claims were filed for siblings (35 percent), followed by
grandparents (19 percent), then mothers- and fathers-in-law
(10 percent). SB 770 would broaden the definition of family
and enable workers to receive paid leave benefits when caring
for these currently excluded family members.
4. Proponent Arguments :
Proponents note that California's first-in-the-nation Paid
Family Leave program, which nearly the entire private
workforce contributes to, provides the six weeks of vital wage
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Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations
replacement benefit that enables workers take leave to bond
with a new child or care for a seriously ill family member.
However, proponents argue that many workers caring for a
seriously ill family member lack access to the program because
of the law's overly narrow definition of "family."
Proponents contend that the current definition of "family"
including, children, parents, spouses, or registered domestic
partners fails to account for the diversity of California
households and the importance of caregiving by other close
family members - illustrated by the fact that California has
the second highest percentage of multi-generational households
in the country. Proponents bring attention to a recent study
on caregivers of Alzheimer's patients that found over 40
percent of caregivers were not covered under the narrow
definition in California's Paid Family Leave program, as well
as another study that found that nearly 20 percent of primary
caregivers for chronically disabled individuals are neither
the spouse nor the child of the person receiving care.
Proponents maintain that SB 770 will ensure that California
workers can care for close family members without jeopardizing
their economic well-being.
5. Opponent Arguments :
None on file.
6. Prior Legislation :
SB 1661 (Kuehl), Chapter 901, Statutes of 2002 - created
within the state disability insurance program, a family
temporary disability insurance program to provide up to six
weeks of wage replacement benefits to workers who take time
off work to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, parent,
domestic partner, or bond with a new child.
SB 727 (Kuehl), Chapter 797, Statutes of 2003 - made
conforming and clarifying changes to Paid Family Leave program
that clarified the role of the Employment Development
Department in maintaining the program, as well as ensuring the
accumulation of enough funds to pay for the program.
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SB 727 (Kuehl) of 2007 - would have allowed employees covered
by Paid Family Leave to take paid leave to care for
grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, and in-laws, as well as
clarify existing law to ensure that Paid Family Leave must be
taken concurrently with the California Family Medical Leave
Act (CFRA) and the federal Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
Vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.
SUPPORT
Legal Aid Society- Employment Law Center (Sponsor)
9 to 5
Asian Law Caucus
A Better Balance
Association of California Caregiver Resource Centers
Association of Regional Center Agencies
BreastfeedLA
California Alliance for Retired Americans
California Senior Legislature
California Women's Law Center
California Employment Lawyers Association
California Teachers Association
Cancer Legal Resource Center
Center for WorkLife Law
Childcare resource and Referral Network
Communications Workers of America
Disability Rights Advocates
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
Equal Rights Advocates
Excelligence Learning Corporation
Family Caregiver Alliance
Golden Gate
Legal Aid Society San Mateo County
Los Angeles Alliance for a Better Economy
Mujeres Unidas y Activas
National Center for Youth Law
Parent Voices
SEIU California
UAW Local 2865
US Women's Chamber of Commerce
USC Davis School of Gerontology, Family Caregiver Support
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Program
Women's Employment Rights Clinic of Golden Gate University
School of Law
Zazie Restaurant
OPPOSITION
None received.
Hearing Date: April 24, 2013 SB 770
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Senate Committee on Labor and Industrial Relations