BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 406|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Bill No: SB 406
Author: Jackson (D)
Amended: 9/4/15
Vote: 21
SENATE LABOR & IND. REL. COMMITTEE: 4-1, 4/22/15
AYES: Mendoza, Jackson, Leno, Mitchell
NOES: Stone
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 5/28/15
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, Leyva, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
SENATE FLOOR: 23-16, 6/4/15
AYES: Allen, Beall, Block, De León, Galgiani, Hall, Hancock,
Hernandez, Hertzberg, Hill, Jackson, Lara, Leno, Leyva, Liu,
McGuire, Mendoza, Mitchell, Monning, Pan, Pavley, Wieckowski,
Wolk
NOES: Anderson, Bates, Berryhill, Cannella, Fuller, Gaines,
Glazer, Huff, Moorlach, Morrell, Nguyen, Nielsen, Roth,
Runner, Stone, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Hueso
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: Not available
SUBJECT: Employment: leave
SOURCE: California Employment Lawyers Association
Equal Rights Advocates
Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center
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DIGEST: This bill expands various provisions of law related to
unpaid family and medical leave under the California Family
Rights Act (CFRA)
Assembly Amendments puts the employee threshold back to existing
law at 50 employees at a worksite for an employee to qualify for
CFRA.
ANALYSIS: Existing federal law, under the Family and Medical
Leave Act (FMLA) entitles eligible employees to take unpaid,
job-protected leave for up to 12 weeks in a 12-month period for:
the birth of a child and to care for the newborn child within
one year, to care for the employee's spouse, child, or parent
who has a serious health condition, or a serious health
condition that makes the employee unable to perform the
essential functions or his or her job. This leave, granted under
both the state California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and the
federal FMLA must be taken concurrently. (§105 of the FMLA and
§825.220 of FMLA regulations)
Existing state law, under CFRA:
1)Entitles eligible employees of covered employers to take
unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical
reasons.
2)Allows eligible employees to take 12 workweeks of leave in a
12-month period for: bonding with a newborn or adopted child,
caring for a family member with a serious health condition
(includes parent, spouse, and child), and the employee's own
serious health condition (excluding pregnancy).
3)States that eligible employees must meet the following
conditions:
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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.
c) Guaranteed reinstatement to the same or comparable
position after taking family leave under CFRA and FMLA.
4)Provides the following definitions family members and serious
health condition:
a) Child: a biological, adopted, foster, or stepchild, a
legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco
parentis, who is either under the age of 18 or is an adult
dependent child.
b) Parent: the employee's biological, foster, or adoptive
parent, stepparent, legal guardian, or other person who
stood in loco parentis to the employee when the employee
was a child.
c) Serious health condition: an illness, injury,
impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves
either inpatient care or continuing treatment or
supervision by a healthcare provider.
5)Requires that an employee provide the employer with reasonable
advance notice of the need for the leave, if foreseeable, and
authorizes the employer to require certification by a health
care provider for leave requests due to serious health
conditions.
6)States that when both parents are entitled to family and
medical leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or
foster care of a child and are employed by the same employer,
the employer is not required to grant both parents leave
totaling more than 12 weeks.
Existing law establishes a family temporary disability insurance
program, Paid Family Leave (PFL) that provides up to six weeks
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of wage replacement benefits to workers who take time off work
to care for: a seriously ill child, spouse, parent, or domestic
partner, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, and
parents-in-laws or to bond with a minor child in connection with
foster care or adoption. (Unemployment Insurance Code §3301)
This bill expands the family members covered in CFRA including:
1)"Child" to include the son or daughter of a domestic partner
and removes the provision regarding age and dependent status
of the child.
2)Expands permissible family and medical leave to include leave
to care for a sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic
partner, or parent-in-law with a serious health condition.
3)Allows parents, when employed by the same employer, to be
granted up to 12 weeks of leave individually rather than
between both parents, removing an exception currently in
existing law.
Comments
According to the author's office, SB 406 ensures that eligible
workers can keep their jobs when they need time off to care for
their families. Over 40% of the workforce is not eligible for
California Family Rights Act due to the law's eligibility
requirements, which means they are cannot take job-protected,
paid leave through the Paid Family Leave program.
The current definition of family under CFRA includes minor or
adult dependent children, parents, spouses, and registered
domestic partners. Recently, the definition of family members
for Paid Family Leave, a program that allows workers to receive
partial wage replacement benefits while taking care of seriously
ill family members, was expanded to include siblings,
grandparents, grandchildren, and parents-in-law. SB 406 seeks to
include these family members under CFRA, allowing employees to
take job-protected leave when utilizing their PFL benefits.
Currently, employees may receive this monetary benefit when
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caring for these additional family members but risk losing their
jobs to provide such care. This bill would also allow for
parents that are entitled to leave and employed by the same
employer to receive 12 weeks of family and medical leave
individually in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster
care of a child.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, DFEH will
incur increased General Fund costs of about $686,000 annually to
implement the provisions of this bill. DFEH will require an
augmentation of six positions and $686,000 to handle an assumed
increased in CFRA complaints of about 24% created by the
expansion of CFRA rights. DFEH will not receive any additional
federal funds; its work share agreement with the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission excludes CFRA complaints.
According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, this bill
would result in General Fund administrative costs to the
Department of Fair Employment and Housing of approximately
$700,000. The impact to other state agencies is expected to be
minimal since the state generally provides this benefit already.
SUPPORT: (Verified9/11/2015)
California Employment Lawyers Association (co-source)
Equal Rights Advocates (co-source)
Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center (co-source)
9to5
Alzheimer's Association
American Association of Retired Persons
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Association of American University Women
Association of Caregiver Resource Centers
Association of Women's Health, Obstetrics, and Neonatal Nurses
Breastfeeding Coalition for Ventura County
BreastfeedLA
California Alliance for Retired Americans
California Black Health Network
California Immigrant Policy Center
California Labor Federation
California Nurses Association/National Nurses United
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
California School Employees Association
California Teachers Association
California Women's Law Center
California Work & Family Coalition
Center for Law and Social Policy
Child Care Law Center
Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations, Inc.
Communications Workers of America 9003
Communications Workers of America District 9
Congress of California Seniors
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Disability Rights California
Family Caregiving Alliance
Forward Together
Independent Living Resource Center
Jodi House of Santa Barbara
Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy
Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy
National Association of Social Workers
National Council of Jewish Women
National Partnership for Women & Families
Organization of SMUD Employees
Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Santa Barbara, Ventura & San
Luis Obispo
Restaurant Opportunities Center of Los Angeles
San Bernardino Public Employees Association
San Diego County Court Employees Association
San Francisco Breastfeeding Promotion Coalition
San Luis Obispo County Employees Association
SEIU California
Teamsters Local Union No. 986
The Alliance of California for Community Empowerment
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy California Collaboration
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The Women's Foundation of California
UC Hastings Center for WorkLife Law
Western Center on Law and Poverty
Western Regional Advocacy Project
OPPOSITION: (Verified9/11/2015)
Air Conditioning Trade Association
Associated Builders and Contractors of California
Associated General Contractors
California Association for Health Services at Home
California Chamber of Commerce
California Cotton Ginners Association
California Cotton Growers Association
California Dairies, Inc.
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Fresh Fruit Association
California Grocers Association
California Landscape Contractors Association
California League of Food Processors
California Manufacturers and Technology Association
California Pool & Spa Association
California Professional Associations of Specialty Contractors
California Restaurant Association
California State Association of Counties
California Trucking Association
Claremont Chamber of Commerce
Family Business Association
Far West Equipment Dealers Association
Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce
National Federation of Independent Business
Nisei Farmers League
Plumbing-Heating-Cooling Contractors Association of California
Society for Human Resource Management
Southwest California Legislative Council
The Alliance
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Western Agricultural Processors Association
Western Electrical Contractors Association
Western Growers Association
Western Plant Health Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:According to supporters, the restrictions
on family caregiving under CFRA fail to account for the
diversity of California households and the importance of
caregiving by extended family members. Supporters bring
attention to various study findings including: a study of
Alzheimer's patients which found that 40% of caregivers were not
covered under the narrow definition of family in CFRA, one 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, and another finding that one in twelve
caregivers provides care to a parent-in-law, grandparent, or
grandparent-in-law. Proponents contend that SB 406 will provide
the critical job-protection for workers who want to take paid
family leave by amending CFRA to expand the definition of family
to match PFL so that more workers are covered.
Supporters argue that most leave taken under the CFRA is short,
minimizing the impact on employers. They state that nearly half
of all leave taken is for 10 days or less.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION:A coalition of employers, including the
California Chamber of Commerce, opposes this bill and argue that
expanding the family members for whom an employee may take a
12-week protected leave of absence to care for to include a
grandparent, a grandchild, and siblings will negatively impact
California employers. Opponents also argue that California
already has extensive family-related protected leaves of absence
and that this bill is therefore unnecessary. Opponents argue
that as these family members in SB 406 are not covered under the
FMLA, this bill will potentially provide a California employer
with an obligation to provide up to 24 weeks of protected leave.
Specifically, opponents argue that under SB 406 an employee
could utilize his or her 12 weeks of CFRA to care for the
serious medical condition of a grandparent as well as still be
entitled to another 12-week protected leave of absence under
FMLA for his or her own medical condition or the medical
condition of his or her spouse, child or parent.
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Prepared by:Deanna Ping / L. & I.R. / (916) 651-1556
9/11/15 21:05:21
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