California Leaves of Absence Chart: CFRA, PDL, SDI, and PFL

California employees have access to more than a dozen distinct leaves of absence, ranging from 12 weeks of job-protected family and medical leave to five days for bereavement, two paid hours to vote, and up to four months for pregnancy disability. Some leaves protect your job but don’t pay you. Others pay you but don’t protect your job. A few do both. Knowing which category each leave falls into — and which ones stack rather than run concurrently — is how you avoid leaving weeks of time or thousands of dollars on the table.

Quick Reference: California Leaves at a Glance

Every leave below has its own eligibility rules and pay treatment. The duration column shows the maximum entitlement per year unless otherwise noted.

California Family Rights Act (CFRA): 12 weeks; employers with 5+ workers; unpaid (pair with SDI or PFL for income).
Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL): Up to 4 months (17⅓ weeks); employers with 5+ workers; unpaid.
Paid Sick Leave: 40 hours (5 days); all employers; paid.
Bereavement Leave: 5 days; employers with 5+ workers; unpaid unless policy provides pay.
Reproductive Loss Leave: 5 days per event, up to 20 days/year; employers with 5+ workers; unpaid.
Organ Donor Leave: 30 business days paid, plus 30 unpaid; most employers.
Bone Marrow Donor Leave: 5 business days; paid.
Jury Duty & Court Appearance: As needed; job-protected; generally unpaid.
Voting Leave: Up to 2 hours; paid.
School Activities Leave: 40 hours/year (max 8 per month); employers with 25+ at one location; unpaid.
Crime Victims’ Leave: As needed for medical, legal, and safety purposes; job-protected.
Military Spouse Leave: 10 days during deployment leave; employers with 25+; unpaid.

Two statewide wage-replacement programs — State Disability Insurance (SDI) and Paid Family Leave (PFL) — pay a portion of your wages during many of these absences, even though they don’t protect your job on their own.

California Family Rights Act: 12 Weeks of Job-Protected Leave

CFRA, codified at Government Code section 12945.2, requires employers with five or more workers to provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in any 12-month period.¹ You qualify once you’ve been with the employer more than 12 months and worked at least 1,250 hours during those 12 months.

CFRA covers three situations:

Your own serious health condition that prevents you from doing your job.
Caring for a family member with a serious health condition.
Bonding with a new child after birth, adoption, or foster placement.

The family-member list is broad: children of any age, parents, spouses, domestic partners, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, and a “designated person” with a blood or family-like relationship to you.² That reaches further than the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which only covers spouses, children, and parents. When your employer is big enough to be covered by both laws, CFRA and FMLA generally run at the same time for the same qualifying reason, so you don’t get 24 weeks total.³

CFRA leave doesn’t have to be taken in one block. When medically necessary, you can use it in smaller increments — a few hours for a recurring appointment, days at a time during treatment, or a reduced weekly schedule. Employers can require 30 days’ advance notice for foreseeable leave.⁴ When you return, your employer must restore you to the same or a comparable position.

Pregnancy Disability Leave: Up to Four Months

PDL is separate from CFRA and provides up to four months of job-protected time off for any disability related to pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition.⁵ “Four months” means the equivalent of 17⅓ workweeks.⁶

PDL is easier to qualify for than CFRA. There’s no length-of-service requirement — you’re eligible from your first day — and no minimum hours-worked threshold, so part-time employees qualify too. Your employer must also maintain your group health insurance at the same level and conditions as if you were still working, for up to four months.⁵

Here’s where new parents often leave time on the table. PDL runs concurrently with federal FMLA, but CFRA does not run during PDL. CFRA bonding leave starts after your pregnancy disability ends.³ A pregnant employee covered by both laws can take up to four months of PDL, then 12 weeks of CFRA bonding leave — roughly seven months of job-protected time off in sequence. Treating these as one combined block is the single most common mistake in this area.

Getting Paid: SDI and Paid Family Leave

Job protection and income are separate things in California. CFRA, PDL, bereavement leave, and most other California leaves don’t pay you. Two programs run by the Employment Development Department (EDD) do, both funded by payroll deductions you’ve already been paying.

State Disability Insurance

SDI partially replaces your wages when you can’t work due to a non-work-related illness, injury, pregnancy, or childbirth.⁷ For claims starting on or after January 1, 2025, the benefit replaces 70% to 90% of your wages depending on your income, with lower earners getting the higher rate. The maximum weekly benefit is $1,765.⁸ A seven-day unpaid waiting period applies at the start of each disability benefit period.⁹

Paid Family Leave

PFL provides up to eight weeks of wage replacement to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill family member, or handle a qualifying military exigency.¹⁰ Covered family members include children, spouses, domestic partners, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings. The benefit rate and weekly maximum match SDI.

PFL only replaces wages. It does not protect your job. If you want both pay and the right to return, pair PFL with CFRA or another leave law that guarantees reinstatement. Filing for PFL alone, without separately invoking a job-protected leave, leaves your position unprotected unless some other law covers you.

Bereavement Leave

Employers with five or more workers must provide up to five days of bereavement leave after the death of a family member.¹¹ You need 30 days of service to qualify. The days don’t have to be consecutive but must be used within three months of the death. Covered family includes spouses, children, parents, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, domestic partners, and parents-in-law.

If your employer has a paid bereavement policy, you take leave on those terms. If no policy exists or the policy provides fewer than five days, the leave may be unpaid, but you can substitute accrued vacation, sick time, or personal leave. Your employer can request documentation within 30 days of your first day of leave.

Reproductive Loss Leave

At workplaces with five or more employees, you can take up to five days off after a reproductive loss event — miscarriage, stillbirth, failed adoption, failed surrogacy, or unsuccessful assisted reproduction. The days don’t need to be consecutive but must be used within three months. If you have more than one qualifying loss in a 12-month period, you get another five days per event, capped at 20 days per year. The leave is unpaid unless you use accrued paid time. The protection is codified at Government Code section 12945.6.

Paid Sick Leave

Every California employer must provide paid sick leave. As of January 1, 2024, the entitlement is 40 hours (five days) per year.¹² You accrue at least one hour for every 30 hours worked starting your first day, or your employer can frontload the full 40 hours each year.

Paid sick leave can be used for your own health or to care for a family member. Unused hours carry over, though employers can cap annual use at 40 hours and total accrual at 80 hours. There’s no employer-size exemption — even a business with one employee must comply.

Organ and Bone Marrow Donation

If you donate an organ, you’re entitled to up to 30 business days of paid leave in a one-year period, plus 30 additional unpaid business days if needed. Bone marrow donors get five paid business days.¹³ This is one of the few California leaves that is explicitly paid by statute.

Jury Duty, Court Appearance, and Voting

Your employer cannot fire or penalize you for serving on a jury or appearing in court under subpoena. The leave is job-protected but generally unpaid.¹⁴

For voting, if you don’t have enough time outside your work hours to reach the polls on election day, you can take up to two hours of paid leave. The time is taken at the beginning or end of your shift — whichever gives you the most free time to vote — unless you and your employer agree otherwise. Give at least two working days’ notice when you know in advance.¹⁵

School Activities Leave

Parents working for employers with 25 or more employees at the same location can take up to 40 hours per year to participate in school or child care activities, enroll a child, or handle a school or child care emergency. No more than eight hours can be used in any single calendar month.¹⁶ The leave is unpaid unless you use vacation or personal time.

Crime Victims’ Leave

Employees who are victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, or other qualifying crimes can take time off to seek medical treatment, obtain a restraining order, plan for safety, relocate, or participate in legal proceedings. The same protections apply when your family member is a victim. Employers cannot retaliate against you for using this leave, and you’re entitled to reasonable accommodations such as a schedule change or transfer to help you stay safe at work.¹⁴

Military Spouse Leave

If your spouse is a member of the Armed Forces, National Guard, or Reserves who has been deployed to a combat zone, you can take up to 10 days of unpaid leave during their leave from deployment. This applies at employers with 25 or more workers, and you must average at least 20 hours per week. Notify your employer within two business days of learning about the deployment leave and provide written documentation.¹⁷

How to File for SDI or PFL Benefits

SDI and PFL claims go through the EDD. The fastest route is SDI Online through your myEDD account.¹⁸ On paper, use form DE 2501 for disability claims or DE 2501F for paid family leave claims.

For medical leaves, your health care provider will need to certify when the condition began and how long it’s expected to last. Your doctor is not required to disclose the underlying diagnosis to your employer without your consent.¹⁹ You’ll also need your Social Security number, your employer’s name and address, and dates that match the provider’s certification. For foreseeable events like a birth or scheduled surgery, give your employer at least 30 days’ notice when possible.⁴ After filing an SDI claim, expect the seven-day waiting period before benefits start.⁹

If Your Leave Rights Are Violated

If your employer fires, demotes, or retaliates against you for taking protected leave, you have options. For California-specific leave laws like CFRA, PDL, bereavement, or reproductive loss leave, file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department. For federal FMLA violations, contact the U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division at 1-866-487-9243, or file a lawsuit in court.²⁰ Federal claims generally must be brought within two years of the violation.²¹

Complaints to the Wage and Hour Division are confidential; the agency will not disclose your name or confirm a complaint exists. Your employer is prohibited from retaliating against you for filing or cooperating with an investigation. Remedies, if violations are found, can include reinstatement, back pay, and in some cases additional damages equal to the back pay owed.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12945.2 – Family Care and Medical Leave
2
California Civil Rights Department. Family Care and Medical Leave Quick Reference Guide
3
California Civil Rights Department. Leave for Pregnancy Disability and Child Bonding Quick Reference Guide
4
Cornell Law Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 2 Section 11091 – Requests for CFRA Leave
5
California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12945 – Pregnancy Disability Leave
6
New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 2 CCR 11035 – Definitions
7
Employment Development Department. State Disability Insurance
8
Employment Development Department. Contribution Rates and Benefit Amounts
9
Cornell Law Institute. California Code of Regulations Title 22 Section 2627(b)-1 – Waiting Period
10
California Legislative Information. California Code Unemployment Insurance Code UIC 3301 – Family Temporary Disability Insurance
11
California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12945.7 – Bereavement Leave
12
California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 246 – Paid Sick Leave
13
California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 1510 – Organ and Bone Marrow Donor Leave
14
California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 230 – Employee Leave for Jury Duty, Court Attendance, and Victims of Crime or Abuse
15
California Legislative Information. California Elections Code 14000 – Voting Leave
16
California Legislative Information. California Code LAB 230.8 – Child-Related Activities
17
California Legislative Information. California Code Military and Veterans Code MVC 395.10 – Military Spouse Leave
18
Employment Development Department. Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave Forms and Publications
19
California Civil Rights Department. Certification of Health Care Provider for CFRA or FMLA
20
U.S. Department of Labor. How to File a Complaint
21
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 77B – Protection for Individuals Under the FMLA