BILL ANALYSIS
AB 849
Page A
Date of Hearing: May 6, 2009
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Kevin De Leon, Chair
AB 849 (Swanson) - As Introduced: February 26, 2009
Policy Committee: Labor and
Employment Vote: 5-2
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill amends the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) by
expanding permissible family and medical leave to cover care for
an independent adult child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild,
domestic partner, or parent-in-law with a serious health
condition.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Annual costs of $200,000 in 2007-08, and $400,000 thereafter,
to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), from
an increased number of complaints it would investigate each
year.
2)One-time costs of $35,000 for distribution of revised
materials to employers regarding expanded leave rights.
3)Unknown but potentially significant costs to the state, as the
employer of about 210,000 individuals who would receive
expanded leave rights.
As an illustration, if the bill raised the number of state
workers taking family or medical leave-currently about 12,000
per year--by 2,000 and the added overtime, training and
related costs associated with replacing the workers were 10%
of pay, the annual state costs would be about $700,000.
COMMENTS
1)Rationale. Supporters assert that this bill is necessary to
AB 849
Page B
address the reality of today's familial dynamics in
California. They indicate that current law's narrow definition
of family excludes precludes individuals from caring for their
loved ones without jeopardizing their long-term financial
security.
2)Existing Law requires employers with 50 or more employees to
provide, upon request, up to 12 weeks of protected unpaid
leave during any 12-month period for specified purposes. These
include: childbirth; placement of a child with respect to
adoption or foster care; care of a parent, spouse or child
with a serious health condition; or because of the employee's
own serious health condition.
Current law defines a child for this purpose to include a
biological child, adoptive child, stepchild or, a legal ward
who is under the age of 18 or is an adult dependent child. It
defines parents to include biological, foster or adoptive
parent, a stepparent, or a legal guardian.
Employees seeking medical leave must provide the employer with
reasonable advance notice of the leave, if foreseeable. It
also authorizes an employer to require that an employee
request for leave for a serious condition be certified by a
health care provider, and includes a process for an employer
to contest the validity of the certification.
3)Opponents argue that this bill is too broad an expansion and,
particularly in this poor economic environment, and could pose
considerable problems for smaller and mid-sized companies.
Employers facing requests for leave must temporarily fill the
vacancy, train a temporary person, and keep the position open.
They also contend that the changes will potentially expose
businesses to additional lawsuits.
4)Previous legislation. . This bill is identical to AB 537
(Swanson) from 2007. AB 537 was vetoed by Governor
Schwarzenegger, who stated that the bill was too
expansive and failed to recognize the need for reform in
existing law. This bill is also similar to SB 300 (Kuehl)
as introduced in 2005. SB 300 was held in this committee
at the request of the author.
Analysis Prepared by : Brad Williams / APPR. / (916) 319-2081