AB 1156

Introduction

This bill does all of the following: expands the family and medical leave law to

allow an employee covered under that law to take family leave to care for a family

member and for the active duty of a family member; lowers the threshold number of

employees above which an employer must allow an employee to take family or

medical leave; and establishes a family and medical leave insurance program under

which certain covered individuals may receive benefits while taking family or

medical leave. The bill defines “family member” as a spouse or domestic partner of

an employee or self-employed individual; a parent, child, sibling, brother-in-law,

sister-in-law, grandparent, stepgrandparent, or grandchild of an employee or

self-employed individual, or of an employee's or self-employed individual's spouse

or domestic partner; or any other person who is related by blood, marriage, or

adoption to an employee or self-employed individual, or to an employee's or

self-employed individual's spouse or domestic partner, and whose close association

with the employee, self-employed individual, spouse, or domestic partner makes the

person the equivalent of a family member of the employee, self-employed individual,

spouse, or domestic partner.

Family and medical leave expansion

Under current law, an employer, including the state, that employs at least 50

individuals on a permanent basis in this state must allow an employee who has been

employed by the employer for more than 52 consecutive weeks and who has worked

for the employer for at least 1,000 hours during the preceding 52 weeks to take up

to eight weeks of family leave in a 12-month period for the birth or adoptive

placement of a child or to care for a child, spouse, domestic partner, or parent of the

employee or a parent of the spouse or domestic partner of the employee who has a

serious health condition and up to two weeks of medical leave in a 12-month period

when the employee has a serious health condition that makes the employee unable

to perform the employee's employment duties.

The bill expands the definition of “family leave” to include leave to obtain

services or care for, to move the residence of, or to prepare for a civil or criminal action

for an employee or the employee's family member who is a victim of domestic abuse,

sexual abuse, or stalking.

The bill requires an employer, including the state, to allow an employee to take

family leave for up to 12 weeks for the birth, adoption, or placement of a child for

foster care and up to 14 weeks in the aggregate for any kind of family leave. The bill

also allows an employee to take family leave as provided under current law to care

for a family member of the employee who has a serious health condition. In addition,

the bill requires an employer to allow an employee to take family leave because of any

qualifying exigency, as determined by the Department of Workforce Development by

rule, arising out of the fact that the family member of the employee is on deployment