BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1562
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Date of Hearing: March 19, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT
Roger Hern�ndez, Chair
AB 1562 (Gomez) - As Amended: March 10, 2014
SUBJECT : Employment: leave.
SUMMARY : Amends existing law governing unpaid family and
medical leave with respect to public or private school
employees, as specified. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides that for eligibility purposes, during the previous
12-month period, a public or private school employee must have
served at least 60 percent of a the hours of service that an
employee who is employed full time is required to perform in a
school year, in addition to other existing requirements.
2)Provides that an existing provision of law that allows an
employer to refuse to reinstate an employee returning from
leave under certain circumstances does not apply to public or
private school employees.
3)Makes other related and conforming changes.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Authorizes eligible employees to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid
family and medical leave, including leave for the birth or
adoption of a child, leave to care for specified family
members with a serious health condition, or for the employee's
own serious health condition.
2)Specifies that an employee must have more than 12 months of
service with the employer and at least 1,250 hours of service
with the employer during the previous 12-month period, in
order to be eligible to take unpaid family and medical leave.
3)Provides that an employer may refuse to reinstate an employee
returning from leave to the same or a comparable position if
all of the following apply:
a) The employee is a salaried employee who is among the
highest paid 10 percent of the employer's employees.
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b) The refusal is necessary to prevent substantial and
grievous economic injury to the operations of the employer.
c) The employer notifies the employee of the intent to
refuse to reinstate at the time the employer determines
that the refusal is necessary.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS : The Moore-Brown-Roberti Family Rights Act (CFRA) is
the state-law equivalent of the federal Family and Medical Leave
Act (FMLA). Both acts provide for up to 12 weeks of unpaid
family and medical leave for public and private employees.
Under the CFRA, there are two main eligibility criteria. First,
the employee must have worked for the employer for more than 12
months. Second, the employee must have worked more than 1,250
hours for the employer during the prior 12-month period.
Full-time employees generally have no problem satisfying the
hours of service requirement, because a regular
(40-hours-per-week) full-time employee works 2,080 hours in a
12-month period. The 1,250 hour threshold under the CFRA
generally represents 60 percent of a full-time schedule.
Therefore, part-time workers may be eligible for leave under the
CFRA as long as they generally work about 60 percent of a
full-time schedule. A part-time employee would have to work
about 24 hours per week in order to reach the hours of service
needed for eligibility under the CFRA.
The sponsor of this bill, the California Teachers Association
(CTA), notes that many educators and other public and private
school employees are not covered by the CFRA because they do not
meet the hours of service requirement due to the length of the
school year. For example, a full-time teacher or other school
employee who works for 182 days and 7.25 hours per day would
have 1,320 hours of service in a calendar year, and would
therefore be eligible for leave under the CFRA. However, a
part-time teacher of other school employee would have to work 95
percent of a full-time schedule in order to reach the minimum
hours of service. Part-time employees who work less than that
amount are not eligible for leave.
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CTA argues that because the CFRA was intended to cover employees
who work 60 percent of full-time schedule, the law needs to be
amended to ensure equitable treatment of public and private
school employees who work 60 percent of a full-time schedule.
Additional Provision Related to Employer's Right to Refuse to
Reinstate
Existing law provides that an employer may refuse to reinstate
an employee returning from leave to the same or a comparable
position if all of the following apply:
1)The employee is a salaried employee who is among the highest
paid 10 percent of the employer's employees.
2)The refusal is necessary to prevent substantial and grievous
economic injury to the operations of the employer.
3)The employer notifies the employee of the intent to refuse to
reinstate at the time the employer determines that the refusal
is necessary.
This bill would provide that this provision of existing law does
not apply to public or private school employees.
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT :
CTA states that all educational employees should have the right
to family care leave. However, the unique nature of
California's educators illustrates the need for special
consideration. CTA notes that a part-time teacher would have to
work 95 percent of the school year to reach the 1,250 hours
requirement and be protected by the CFRA. By comparison, a
part-time non-teacher need only work 60 percent of the work year
to be covered by the law. CTA argues that this scenario is
unfair and illustrates the need for this important legislation.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
AB 1562
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California Employment Lawyers Association
California Teachers Association (Sponsor)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Ben Ebbink / L. & E. / (916) 319-2091