The California Family Rights Act sets the requirements California employers must follow when workers need extended time off for health or family reasons. Under the CFRA, private employers with five or more employees and all state and local government agencies must give eligible workers up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period, continue their group health coverage during that leave, and restore them to the same or an equivalent position when they return. Eligible workers are those with at least 12 months of service and 1,250 hours worked in the prior year.
Which Employers Are Covered
Two categories of employers fall under CFRA. Private-sector businesses are covered if they employ five or more people for wages or salary, counting every worker on the payroll — full-time, part-time, temporary, and anyone currently out on leave. That headcount includes employees anywhere in the United States or its territories, not just those working in California.1California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12945.2 – Family Care and Medical Leave State and local government agencies are covered regardless of size.2Practical Law. California Family Rights Act of 1993
The five-employee count is measured at the time the leave is requested. A business that later drops below five employees loses the obligation going forward.
Who Qualifies as an Eligible Employee
You qualify for CFRA leave if you meet two conditions. First, you must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months total. Those months do not have to be consecutive, so time from an earlier stint with the same employer can count. Second, you must have actually performed at least 1,250 hours of work during the 12 months immediately before the leave begins.1California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12945.2 – Family Care and Medical Leave
Only time spent doing the job counts toward the 1,250 hours. Vacation, holidays, and sick leave do not. Overtime does, because you were actively working. Employers usually confirm the numbers from payroll records when a request comes in.
Airline flight deck and cabin crew employees have a separate eligibility rule: 504 hours worked or paid in the preceding 12 months, plus 60 percent of the applicable monthly guarantee.3California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12945.2 – Family Care and Medical Leave
Reasons You Can Take CFRA Leave
CFRA leave is available for four categories of need: bonding with a new child after birth, adoption, or foster placement; your own serious health condition that prevents you from doing your job; caring for a family member with a serious health condition; and qualifying needs tied to a family member’s covered active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces.4Civil Rights Department. Expanded Family and Medical Leave in California
A “serious health condition” means an illness, injury, or physical or mental condition that involves either inpatient care or continuing treatment by a health care provider.5California Civil Rights Department. Family Care Medical Leave A short-lived cold usually will not qualify. Conditions that require multiple visits, ongoing prescription treatment, or more than three consecutive days of incapacity with follow-up care generally do.
Which Family Members Count
CFRA’s family definition is wide. Caregiving leave is available for a child of any age, a spouse, a registered domestic partner, a parent, a parent-in-law, a grandparent, a grandchild, or a sibling.5California Civil Rights Department. Family Care Medical Leave “Child” includes biological, adopted, foster, and stepchildren, legal wards, and children of a domestic partner. “Parent” includes biological, adoptive, foster, and stepparents, legal guardians, and anyone who stood in as a parent when the employee was growing up.
Employees can also use CFRA leave for a “designated person,” meaning someone related by blood or someone whose relationship with the employee is the equivalent of a family bond. That can be a friend, an unmarried partner, an aunt, or a cousin. Employers can limit each employee to one designated person per 12-month period.4Civil Rights Department. Expanded Family and Medical Leave in California
One boundary worth noting: the disability period of a pregnancy itself is not covered by CFRA. That time falls under California’s separate Pregnancy Disability Leave law, which provides up to four months of protected leave. CFRA bonding leave begins after PDL ends, so a pregnant employee can take PDL first and then up to 12 weeks of CFRA bonding leave.6New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 2 CCR 11046 – Relationship Between CFRA and Pregnancy Leaves
How Much Leave, and How You Can Take It
The entitlement is 12 workweeks in a 12-month period. Leave for a serious health condition, whether yours or a family member’s, can be taken intermittently or on a reduced schedule whenever it is medically necessary. Employers must allow leave in increments as short as the smallest unit their payroll system tracks, up to a one-hour cap.7Legal Information Institute. 2 CCR 11090 – Computation of Time Periods: Twelve Workweeks; Minimum Duration
Bonding leave works a little differently. The minimum block is two weeks, but the employer must grant at least two requests for a shorter period. All bonding leave must be completed within 12 months of the child’s birth, adoption, or foster placement.7Legal Information Institute. 2 CCR 11090 – Computation of Time Periods: Twelve Workweeks; Minimum Duration
Pay, Paid Time Off, and Health Coverage
CFRA leave is unpaid. The law protects your job and your benefits; it does not require the employer to keep issuing your paycheck. Several income options work alongside it.
You can choose to use accrued vacation or paid time off during the leave, and the employer can require you to do so. Accrued sick leave can be used for your own serious health condition. For other reasons, sick leave applies only if you and the employer agree.8New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 2 CCR 11092 – Terms of CFRA Leave
California’s Paid Family Leave program, run by the Employment Development Department, pays partial wage replacement — up to 60 to 70 percent of weekly wages, subject to an annual maximum — to workers bonding with a new child or caring for a seriously ill family member.9Employment Development Department (EDD). Paid Family Leave Benefit Payment Amounts PFL does not provide job protection; CFRA does. The two programs are designed to work together.10Employment Development Department (EDD). Paid Family Leave If you are drawing PFL or state disability benefits, the employer cannot force you to use accrued paid time off on top of them, though you can agree to supplement voluntarily.8New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 2 CCR 11092 – Terms of CFRA Leave
If the employer provides group health coverage, it must continue that coverage during CFRA leave at the same level and cost-share as active employment, for up to 12 workweeks. If you do not return to work after the leave, the employer can recover the premiums it paid, with two exceptions: it cannot recoup premiums if you stayed away because of a continuing or new serious health condition, or because of other circumstances beyond your control.11Legal Information Institute. 2 CCR 11092 – Terms of CFRA Leave
Notice and Medical Certification
When the need for leave is foreseeable, the employee must give at least 30 days’ advance notice. When 30 days is not practical, notice should go to the employer as soon as possible, and for a sudden illness or emergency, within one or two business days of learning about the need.12New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 2 CCR 11091 – Requests for CFRA Leave: Advance Notice; Certification; Employer Response
For health-related leave, the employer can ask for a medical certification confirming that a serious health condition exists, when it began, and how long it is expected to last. The employer cannot demand a specific diagnosis or ask for symptoms, diagnostic details, or other medical information beyond what the certification form allows.12New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. 2 CCR 11091 – Requests for CFRA Leave: Advance Notice; Certification; Employer Response For designated-person leave, the employee should identify that person when making the request.
The employer must respond within five business days, confirming whether the leave qualifies for CFRA protection and outlining the employee’s rights and responsibilities during the absence.13Legal Information Institute. 2 CCR 11091 – Requests for CFRA Leave: Advance Notice; Certification; Employer Response
Return to Work and Anti-Retaliation Rules
At the end of CFRA leave, the employer must return the employee to the same position or to an equivalent one — same pay, benefits, working conditions, seniority, duties, shift, and worksite (or one close enough that the commute is not significantly longer), with the same opportunity for overtime, shift differentials, and bonuses.
CFRA has no “key employee” exception. Every eligible employee, regardless of salary, is entitled to reinstatement.14Civil Rights Department. Explanatory Statement – Changes to CFRA Regulations
Employers cannot fire, suspend, discipline, or otherwise discriminate against an employee for taking CFRA leave. They cannot treat protected leave as a negative factor in hiring, promotion, or performance decisions, and they cannot count it against a no-fault attendance policy.3California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12945.2 – Family Care and Medical Leave Interfering with, restraining, or denying an employee’s right to leave is a separate violation, and that can include discouraging a request or pressuring an early return.
How CFRA Compares to the Federal FMLA
Many California employers are also covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. The differences consistently favor the employee under CFRA:
- Employer size. CFRA reaches private employers with five or more workers; FMLA requires 50 or more within a 75-mile radius. Many small California businesses fall under CFRA but not FMLA.5California Civil Rights Department. Family Care Medical Leave
- Family scope. FMLA covers only a child, spouse, or parent. CFRA adds grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, domestic partners, parents-in-law, and designated persons.
- Key employee rule. FMLA lets employers deny reinstatement to certain high earners; CFRA does not.14Civil Rights Department. Explanatory Statement – Changes to CFRA Regulations
- Intermittent bonding leave. FMLA requires employer approval; CFRA does not, subject to the two-week minimum with limited exceptions.5California Civil Rights Department. Family Care Medical Leave
- Pregnancy interaction. FMLA runs at the same time as Pregnancy Disability Leave. CFRA runs after PDL, giving more total protected time.
When both laws apply, CFRA and FMLA generally run at the same time for reasons they both cover. For events only CFRA covers, such as caring for a sibling or designated person, the FMLA entitlement is not used up.
Filing a Complaint
An employee who believes their employer violated CFRA can file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department. The intake includes a form and an interview with a CRD representative, who assesses whether to open a formal investigation. Useful documentation includes medical records, any written leave requests or denials, and contact information for witnesses.15California Civil Rights Department. Complaint Process
The filing deadline is three years from the date of the unlawful practice.16California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12960 An employee can request an immediate right-to-sue notice from the CRD and go straight to court instead of waiting for an investigation, but requesting that notice is a mandatory step before filing suit.15California Civil Rights Department. Complaint Process
Available remedies include back pay and lost benefits, damages for emotional distress, and attorney’s fees. Because CFRA violations are treated as unlawful employment practices under the Fair Employment and Housing Act, the full range of FEHA remedies applies.