BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SENATE COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Senator Ricardo Lara, Chair
2015 - 2016 Regular Session
SB 1166 (Jackson) - Unlawful employment practice: parental
leave
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|Version: April 21, 2016 |Policy Vote: L. & I.R. 4 - 1, |
| | JUD. 4 - 2 |
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|Urgency: No |Mandate: No |
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|Hearing Date: May 2, 2016 |Consultant: Robert Ingenito |
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This bill meets the criteria for referral to the Suspense File.
Bill
Summary: SB 1166 would (1) establish the New Parent Leave Act,
making it an unlawful employment practice for specified
employers to refuse to allow specified employees to take up to
12 weeks of parental leave to bond with a new child within one
year of the child's birth, adoption, or foster care placement,
and (2) prohibit an employer from refusing to maintain and pay
for coverage under a group health plan for an employee who takes
this leave.
Fiscal
Impact: The Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH)
indicates that it would incur General Fund costs of $248,000 in
2016-17, and $226,000 annually in the out years to implement the
provisions of the bill.
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Background: In 1980, California enacted the California Fair Employment and
Housing Act (FEHA), which (1) prohibits various employment
discrimination practices, and (2) includes protections for
employees taking pregnancy disability leave (PDL). PDL allows an
employee to take a leave for a reasonable period of time, not to
exceed four months, and thereafter return to work, as specified.
The employee is entitled to utilize any accrued vacation leave
during this period of time, which means that period during which
the female employee is disabled on account of pregnancy,
childbirth, or a related medical condition. PDL provides an
employee the right to take "intermittent" leave for a
pregnancy-related disability, as needed, which can be taken in
small increments (hours, days, weeks, or months). For example,
a pregnant employee, with the advice of her doctor, has the
right to take a few hours of leave each day or on certain days
because of severe morning sickness or for a doctor's
appointment, or for other prenatal care. An employee who is
taking PDL is entitled to the continuation of her health
benefits for the entire duration of her leave, up to four
months.
Additionally, under FEHA is the California Family Rights Act
(CFRA, enforced by DFEH), which makes it an unlawful employment
practice for an employer of 50 or more employees to refuse to
grant a request by an employee to take an unpaid family care
leave of up to four months unless a refusal is necessary to
prevent undue hardship to the employer's operation. Family care
leave may be taken in one or more periods, as long as it does
not exceed a total of four months within a 24 month period from
the date the leave commenced. However, when family care leave is
taken in conjunction with the maximum pregnancy disability
leave, family care leave shall be for no more than one month. To
be eligible for family care leave, an employee must have more
than one year of continuous service with the employer and must
be eligible for other employee benefits.
In 1993, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA),
enforced by the United States Department of Labor, was . It
requires employers of 50 of more employees to provide unpaid
leave of up to 12 weeks annually to employees for similar
reasons. Additionally, FMLA covers the medical condition of the
employee, and permits leave for the placement of a child for
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foster care. Employers covered by the law are required to
maintain any pre-existing health coverage during the leave
period and, once the leave period is concluded, to reinstate the
employee to the same or equivalent job. The federal law also
specifies that FMLA shall not supersede any provision of State
or local law that provides greater family or medical leave
rights. AB 1460 (Moore, Chapter 827, Statutes of 1993)
conformed California's employment discrimination laws under FEHA
to the new requirements under the FMLA.
Proposed Law:
This bill would, among other things, do the following:
Establish the New Parent Leave Act and make it an
unlawful employment practice under FEHA for an employer, as
defined, to do either of the following:
o Refuse to allow an employee, with 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, upon request, to take up
to 12 weeks of parental leave to bond with a new child
within one year of the child's birth, adoption, or
foster care placement, and provide:
§ if, on or before the commencement of
this parental leave, the employer does not
provide a guarantee of employment in the same or
a comparable position upon the termination of the
leave, the employer would be deemed to have
refused to allow the leave; and
§ the employee would be entitled to
utilize accrued vacation pay, paid sick time,
other accrued paid time off, or other paid or
unpaid time off negotiated with the employer,
during the period of parental leave; and
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o Refuse to maintain and pay for coverage for an
eligible employee who takes parental leave pursuant to
this section under a group health plan, as defined,
for the duration of the leave, not to exceed 12 weeks
over the course of a 12-month period, commencing on
the date that the parental leave commences, at the
level and under the conditions that coverage would
have been provided if the employee had continued to
work in his or her position for the duration of the
leave.
Define "employer" to mean either: (1) any person who
directly employs 10 or more persons to perform services for
a wage or salary, or (2) the State, and any political or
civil subdivision of the state and cities.
Require that parental leave run concurrently with leave
taken pursuant to CFRA and the FMLA, except for leave taken
for a disability on account of pregnancy, childbirth, or
related medical condition.
Specify that the aggregate amount of leave taken
pursuant to this bill, CFRA, or the FMLA, or any
combination of these laws, except for leave taken for a
disability on account of pregnancy, childbirth, or related
medical conditions, shall not exceed 12 workweeks in a 12
month period.
Entitle an employee to take, in addition to leave
provided pursuant to this bill, CFRA, and the FMLA, leave
provided pursuant to PDL if the employee is otherwise
qualified for that leave.
Related
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Legislation: SB 406 (Jackson, 2015) would have expanded various
provisions of law related to unpaid family and medical leave
under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). The bill was
vetoed by the Governor.
Staff
Comments: DFEH anticipates that the bill would generate about
400 additional complaints per year, requiring three new
positions (investigators) at a cost of $248,000 in 201617, and
$226,000 annually in the out-years. DFEH would not receive any
additional federal funds for this work because its work share
agreement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
excludes CFRA complaints (to which this bill pertains) and
anything else not covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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