Under the California Family Rights Act, a designated person is any blood relative of yours or anyone whose relationship with you is the equivalent of a family bond.1California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12945.2 Naming one lets you take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave to care for them during a serious health condition, even if they aren’t your spouse, child, or parent. The CFRA designated person category took effect January 1, 2023, and your employer can limit you to one designated person per 12-month period, so the choice matters.
Who Counts as a Designated Person
The statute opens two doors. The first is any blood relative, which reaches well past your immediate family to include aunts, uncles, cousins, and more distant relations. The second is any individual whose relationship with you is the functional equivalent of family, with no legal or biological tie required.1California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12945.2
The California Civil Rights Department points to concrete examples in that second category: an unmarried partner, a best friend whose relationship with you is equivalent to family, or a close companion who serves as your primary support system.2Civil Rights Department. Expanded Family and Medical Leave in California What matters is the sincerity and depth of the connection. You don’t need a minimum number of years of friendship, shared finances, or a history of living together. The flexibility is particularly useful for LGBTQ+ communities and others where chosen family is the norm.
Your employer isn’t allowed to probe the relationship. They can’t demand proof the bond meets some objective standard, ask you to document years of friendship, or require letters vouching for the connection. You give the name and confirm the category, and that’s as far as the inquiry goes.
The One-Per-Year Limit
Employers can restrict you to one designated person in a 12-month period.1California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12945.2 The 12-month window follows whatever method your employer already uses for CFRA tracking: calendar year, work anniversary, or a rolling 12-month period measured backward from the date leave is used. On a rolling year, you cannot name a different designated person until 12 months have passed since the last designation.
The cap only applies to this one category. You can still take CFRA leave in the same year to care for a spouse, child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling, because those relationships are covered separately. What the limit prevents is stacking multiple designated persons in the same 12 months.
When You Can Use the Leave
Designated person leave is caregiving leave. The person you name must have a serious health condition, meaning an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves either inpatient care or continuing treatment by a health care provider.3New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. California Code of Regulations Title 2 Section 11087 – Definitions Cancer treatment, recovery from surgery, severe mental health episodes, and substance abuse treatment generally qualify. Common colds, routine dental work, and minor illnesses that pass quickly generally don’t.
You can’t use designated person leave for the other things CFRA covers, like bonding with a new child. That bonding leave stays limited to a parent-child relationship. Designated person leave is specifically for caregiving when someone close to you is seriously ill or injured.
The 12 weeks don’t have to be taken in one block. CFRA leave can be used intermittently or as a reduced schedule as long as the total stays within 12 workweeks across the 12-month period.4Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations 2 CCR 11090 – Computation of Time Periods That’s useful when your designated person needs ongoing treatment like chemotherapy or dialysis and you’re accompanying them periodically rather than providing continuous care.
Whether You’re Eligible to Use It
Before you name anyone, confirm you qualify for CFRA at all. Three conditions all have to be met:
- Your employer has at least five employees.5California Civil Rights Department. Family Care and Medical Leave Quick Reference Guide
- You’ve worked for this employer for more than 12 months.
- You’ve logged at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before leave begins.6California Civil Rights Department. CFRA and Pregnancy Leave
The hours threshold works out to roughly 24 hours per week over a full year. Part-time workers below that may not qualify, so check your total before putting in a request.
How to Request the Leave
The designation happens when you request the leave. There’s no pre-registration and no form to file before an actual need arises. When the time comes, you give your employer the person’s name and confirm they’re either a blood relative or someone in a family-equivalent relationship with you.1California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12945.2
If the leave is foreseeable, your employer can require at least 30 days’ advance notice.7Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations 2 CCR 11091 – Requests for CFRA Leave: Advance Notice, Certification, Employer Response When the need is unexpected, notify your employer as soon as practical. Notice can be verbal or written, but written requests make it easier for both sides to track your 12-week entitlement. Once you submit, your employer has to respond no later than five business days. The employer formally designates the leave as CFRA-qualifying based on the information you provide, so the paperwork burden isn’t entirely yours.
Your employer can ask for medical certification from a health care provider confirming the serious health condition, when it began, how long care is expected to be needed, and whether your involvement is required.2Civil Rights Department. Expanded Family and Medical Leave in California They can’t demand a diagnosis or symptoms beyond what the certification form covers, and they can’t contact the health care provider for anything other than authenticating the form.8New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. California Code of Regulations Title 2 Section 11091 – Requests for CFRA Leave: Advance Notice, Certification, Employer Response
What You Keep During Leave
CFRA’s core protection is reinstatement. When your leave ends, your employer has to return you to the same position or a comparable one with equivalent pay, benefits, working conditions, and responsibilities. Comparable means virtually identical: same shift, same worksite or one nearby, same opportunity for overtime and other compensation. Your employer can’t use the leave as grounds to demote you, move you to a less desirable location, or strip accrued seniority.
Your group health benefits continue at the same level and under the same conditions as if you were still working, with your employer paying its usual share for up to 12 workweeks.9Legal Information Institute. California Code of Regulations 2 CCR 11092 – Terms of CFRA Leave Dental, vision, and mental health coverage are included if they’re part of your plan.
What you don’t automatically keep is a paycheck. CFRA leave is unpaid. Three options can soften that:5California Civil Rights Department. Family Care and Medical Leave Quick Reference Guide
- Accrued paid time off. You can use vacation time, and your employer may require you to. Sick leave typically takes mutual agreement when you’re caring for someone else.
- Paid Family Leave through EDD. California’s PFL program provides partial wage replacement for caregiving, but it currently defines “family member” more narrowly than CFRA does and, as of 2026, does not include a designated person. That expansion is scheduled for July 1, 2028.
- Employer-paid leave. Some employers voluntarily pay during CFRA leave as part of their benefits, though this is uncommon.
The PFL gap is the big practical catch. You get job protection and health insurance continuation, but unless your employer offers paid leave or you have banked vacation, designated person leave is likely time off without pay. Plan for it financially before you need it.
Where CFRA Goes Further Than FMLA
The federal Family and Medical Leave Act also provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave, but it applies only to employers with 50 or more employees within 75 miles, and it limits caregiving leave to a child, spouse, or parent. There is no designated person category under federal law.5California Civil Rights Department. Family Care and Medical Leave Quick Reference Guide
Two consequences follow. If your employer is covered by both laws, CFRA leave for a designated person does not run concurrently with FMLA, because FMLA doesn’t recognize the relationship. You could use 12 weeks of CFRA for a designated person and still have FMLA available later for an FMLA-qualifying reason. And because CFRA starts at just five employees, workers at smaller companies who wouldn’t qualify for FMLA at all still get CFRA designated person leave.
If Your Employer Says No
Denying a valid CFRA leave request is an unlawful employment practice, as is retaliation for requesting or taking leave. Retaliation covers demotions, pay cuts, schedule changes, negative reviews, and termination.10Civil Rights Department. Workplace Retaliation Is Against the Law
You can file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department within three years of the date you were last harmed.11California Civil Rights Department. Complaint Process CRD either investigates or issues a right-to-sue notice that lets you take the case to civil court. You can’t file an employment discrimination lawsuit in California without that notice. Three years is a generous window compared to many employment deadlines, but documenting the request, the response, and any adverse actions as they happen will carry more weight later than memory will.