Reproductive Loss Leave in California: Eligibility, Time, and Pay

Reproductive loss leave in California gives eligible employees up to five days of job-protected time off after a miscarriage, stillbirth, failed adoption, failed surrogacy, or unsuccessful assisted reproduction. The right comes from Government Code section 12945.6, which took effect on January 1, 2024.¹ Your employer cannot ask for a doctor’s note or any other documentation of the loss, and information you share about the leave must be kept confidential.

Who Qualifies

The law covers every public employer in California and any private employer with five or more employees.¹ You become eligible after 30 days of employment.² There is no minimum hours requirement, so part-time workers who meet the 30-day threshold qualify.

The leave is not limited to the person who physically experienced the loss. A spouse, domestic partner, or anyone else who would have been a parent of the child has their own independent right to take it.¹ If your partner has a miscarriage, or you were the intended parent in a surrogacy that fell through, you can take the leave yourself.

What Losses Are Covered

Five categories of loss trigger the right to leave:¹

Miscarriage, whether the pregnancy is yours, your spouse’s or domestic partner’s, or another person’s if you would have been the parent.
Stillbirth, with the same scope as miscarriage.
A failed adoption: an adoption agreement that is dissolved, breached by the birth mother or legal guardian, or blocked because another party contests it.
A failed surrogacy: a surrogacy agreement that is dissolved or breached, or a failed embryo transfer to the surrogate.
Unsuccessful assisted reproduction, such as a failed round of intrauterine insemination or IVF.

The “reproductive loss event” is the day the loss occurs, or for a multi-day event, the final day.¹ That date starts the clock on when the leave must be used.

How Much Time You Get and When to Use It

Each qualifying event entitles you to up to five days of leave.¹ You do not have to take them consecutively; the statute expressly allows non-consecutive use, so you can spread the days out as recovery requires.

All five days must be used within three months of the reproductive loss event. If you are already on another form of protected leave when the loss happens, such as pregnancy disability leave, the three-month window begins when that other leave ends.²

If more than one loss occurs in a 12-month period, you are entitled to leave for each event, but your employer is not required to provide more than 20 total days in that 12-month window.² An employer can always be more generous than that floor.

Is Reproductive Loss Leave Paid

The leave is unpaid unless your employer has a policy that provides paid time off for this situation. You do have the right to substitute accrued leave you already have, including sick time, vacation, personal days, or compensatory time, so you can keep receiving a paycheck during the absence.¹

California’s State Disability Insurance program is separate but can help if a loss leaves you physically unable to work. SDI pays roughly 70 to 90 percent of your recent wages depending on income, and covers non-work-related conditions including those related to pregnancy.³ A miscarriage or stillbirth that requires medical recovery may qualify. Reproductive loss leave protects your job; SDI partially replaces your income. You can use both during the same absence if you meet each program’s requirements.

How to Request the Leave

Notify your employer that you are taking reproductive loss leave. The law does not set a specific advance notice period; you simply have to give notice when it is feasible.²

Your employer cannot require you to submit documentation to justify the leave. No doctor’s note, no medical records, no proof of the loss.¹ That is a deliberate departure from other leave categories, including FMLA, where employers can demand medical certification.

Job Protection and Confidentiality

Refusing a valid request for reproductive loss leave, or retaliating against an employee for requesting or taking it, is an unlawful employment practice under California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act.¹ Retaliation includes firing, demotion, suspension, discipline, or any other adverse action tied to your use of the leave.²

Your employer must also keep the leave request confidential. Information about it can only be disclosed to internal personnel or legal counsel with a legitimate need to know.¹ Whether and when to tell colleagues stays your decision.

Combining Reproductive Loss Leave With Other Leaves

Five days may not be enough if the loss involves extended physical recovery or ongoing medical care. Reproductive loss leave is separate from and in addition to other forms of protected leave, so you can stack it with other programs you qualify for.²

If you personally experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth and need time to recover, California’s pregnancy disability leave allows up to four months of leave per pregnancy for any period you are actually disabled by pregnancy or a related condition. It applies to employers with five or more employees and has no minimum tenure requirement.⁴

The California Family Rights Act and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act each provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for a serious health condition, which can include a miscarriage or stillbirth requiring extended treatment or recovery.⁵ CFRA also allows leave to care for a spouse or domestic partner with a serious health condition, so the non-pregnant partner may have an entitlement of their own. Eligibility is narrower than reproductive loss leave: both laws require 12 months of prior service, and the employer must have at least 50 employees (within 75 miles for FMLA).

Federal law adds one more layer worth knowing. The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, and that explicitly includes recovery from miscarriage and stillbirth.⁶ Accommodations can include modified schedules, additional breaks, temporary reassignment, or leave. Your employer cannot force you onto leave if another accommodation would let you keep working.⁷

What to Do if Your Employer Violates the Law

Because a violation of section 12945.6 is an unlawful employment practice under FEHA, the same enforcement path as other employment discrimination claims applies. Start by filing an intake form with the California Civil Rights Department within three years of the date you were last harmed, whether that was the denial of your leave or a retaliatory action such as termination.⁸

CRD can investigate and try to resolve the case. If CRD does not file its own civil action within 150 days, or decides not to pursue it, you can request a right-to-sue notice and file your own lawsuit in superior court within one year of receiving that notice.⁹

Remedies in a successful FEHA claim can include back pay, reinstatement, damages for emotional distress, punitive damages, and recovery of attorney’s fees and costs.¹⁰ The three-year filing window is generous, but the sooner you save relevant emails and note dates and conversations, the stronger any eventual claim will be.

1
California Legislative Information. California Government Code GOV 12945.6
2
Civil Rights Department. Fact Sheet: Reproductive Loss Leave
3
EDD. Disability Insurance Benefits
4
Cornell Law Institute. Cal Code Regs Tit 2, 11042 – Pregnancy Disability Leave
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 29 USC 2612 – Leave Requirement
6
eCFR. 29 CFR Part 1636 – Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
7
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
8
Civil Rights Department. Complaint Process
9
California Legislative Information. California Government Code GOV 12965
10
Civil Rights Department. Employment Discrimination