BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 770|
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 770
Author: Jackson (D) and DeSaulnier (D), et al.
Amended: 8/5/13
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS COMMITTEE : 3-1, 4/24/13
AYES: Lieu, Leno, Yee
NOES: Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Padilla
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 5/23/13
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SENATE FLOOR : 29-10, 5/28/13
AYES: Beall, Block, Calderon, Cannella, Corbett, Correa, De
León, DeSaulnier, Evans, Galgiani, Hancock, Hernandez, Hill,
Hueso, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Lieu, Liu, Monning, Padilla,
Pavley, Price, Roth, Steinberg, Torres, Wolk, Wright, Yee
NOES: Anderson, Berryhill, Emmerson, Fuller, Gaines, Huff,
Knight, Nielsen, Walters, Wyland
NO VOTE RECORDED: Vacancy
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-22, 9/4/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Unemployment compensation: disability benefits:
paid family
leave
SOURCE : Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center
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DIGEST : This bill broadens the definition of family within
the Paid Family Leave (PFL) program to allow workers to receive
the partial wage replacement benefits while taking care of
seriously ill siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and
parents-in-law.
Assembly Amendments add co-authors and delay implementation off
this bill by six months.
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:
1. Twelve workweeks of leave in a 12-month period for:
A. Bonding with a newborn or adopted child.
B. Caring for a family member with a serious health
condition (includes parent, spouse, child, registered
domestic partner and same sex spouse).
C. The employee's own serious health condition (excluding
pregnancy).
2. Eligible employees must meet the following conditions:
A. 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.
B. Worked at a location in which the employer has at least
50 employees within 75 miles of the employee's worksite.
3. Guaranteed reinstatement to the same or comparable position
after taking family leave under CFRA and Family and Medical
Leave Act (FMLA).
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Existing federal law, under the 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.
Existing law established a family temporary disability insurance
program, 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.
Existing law states that an individual is eligible to receive
temporary disability insurance benefits equal to one-seventh of
his/her weekly benefit amount for each full day during which
he/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.
This bill broadens the definition of family within the PFL
program to allow workers to receive the partial wage replacement
benefits while taking care of seriously ill siblings,
grandparents, grandchildren, and parents-in-law. Specifically,
this bill:
1. Extends eligibility for the PFL program to employees who take
time off from work to care for a seriously ill grandparent,
grandchild, sibling, or parent-in-law.
2. Defines "grandchild" as the child of the employee's child.
3. Defines "grandparent" as a parent of the employee's parent.
4. Defines "parent-in-law" as the parent of a spouse or a
domestic partner.
5. Defines "sibling" as person related to another person by
blood, adoption, or affinity through a common legal or
biological parent.
6. Defers implementation until July 1, 2014.
Prior legislation
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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 PFL program that clarified the role of
the EDD in maintaining the program, as well as ensuring the
accumulation of enough funds to pay for the program.
SB 727 (Kuehl, 2007) would have allowed employees covered by PFL
to take paid leave to care for grandparents, grandchildren,
siblings, and in-laws, as well as clarify existing law to ensure
that PFL must be taken concurrently with CFRA and the federal
FMLA. Vetoed by Governor Schwarzenegger.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/4/13)
Legal Aid Society- Employment Law Center (source)
9 to 5
A Better Balance
Alzheimber's Association
American Association for the Advancement of Retired People
Area Agency on Aging of Lake and Mendocino Counties
Asian Law Caucus
Association of California Caregiver Resource Centers
Association of Regional Center Agencies
BreastfeedLA
California Alliance for Retired Americans
California Commission on Aging
California Employment Lawyers Association
California Labor Federation
California Nurses Association
California School Employees Association
California Senior Legislature
California State Association of Electrical Workers
California State Pipe Trades Council
California Teachers Association
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California Women's Law Center
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
Glendale City Employees Association
Legal Aid Society San Mateo County
Los Angeles Alliance for a Better Economy
Mujeres Unidas y Activas
National Association of Social Workers
National Center for Youth Law
Organization of SMUD Employees
Parent Voices
San Bernardino Public Employees Association
San Luis Obispo County Employees Association
Santa Rosa City Employees Association
SEIU California
UAW Local 2865
US Women's Chamber of Commerce
USC Davis School of Gerontology, Family Caregiver Support
Program
Western States Council of Sheet Metal Workers
Women's Employment Rights Clinic of Golden Gate University
School of Law
Zazie Restaurant
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : Proponents note that California's
first-in-the-nation PFL program, which nearly the entire private
workforce contributes to, provides the six weeks of vital wage
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
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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% of
caregivers were not covered under the narrow definition in
California's PFL program, as well as another study that found
that nearly 20% of primary caregivers for chronically disabled
individuals are neither the spouse nor the child of the person
receiving care. Proponents maintain that this bill ensures that
California workers can care for close family members without
jeopardizing their economic well-being.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 51-22, 9/4/13
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Garcia,
Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall, Roger Hernández,
Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal, Medina, Mitchell,
Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, V. Manuel Pérez,
Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting,
Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada
NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Dahle,
Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Harkey, Jones, Linder,
Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Morrell, Nestande, Patterson,
Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Frazier, Hagman, Melendez, Olsen, John A.
Pérez, Vacancy, Vacancy
PQ:d 9/5/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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