California recognizes more than a dozen types of leave of absence, ranging from the familiar — pregnancy, serious illness, bonding with a new child — to narrower protections for jury duty, organ donation, school activities, and victims of crime. Most are unpaid but job-protected, meaning your position is held open while you’re away. A few come with partial wage replacement through state programs, and a smaller handful require the employer to keep paying your regular wages. One feature sets California apart from federal law: many of these protections apply at employers with just five workers, well below the 50-employee threshold that triggers the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
Family and Medical Leave (CFRA)
The California Family Rights Act gives eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in any 12-month period.1California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 12945.2 – Family Care and Medical Leave It covers employers with five or more workers. To qualify, you need more than 12 months of service and at least 1,250 hours worked in the 12 months before leave starts.
You can use CFRA leave for your own serious health condition, to bond with a new child by birth, adoption, or foster placement, or to care for a family member with a serious health condition. California defines family broadly: child, parent, spouse, domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or a designated person. A designated person is anyone related to you by blood or in a relationship equivalent to family. You name them when you request leave, and the employer can limit you to one designated person per 12-month period.
A serious health condition means an illness, injury, or physical or mental condition requiring inpatient hospital care or ongoing treatment by a healthcare provider. Your group health insurance continues during leave on the same terms as if you were still working. When you come back, you’re entitled to your original position or a comparable one with equivalent pay, benefits, and working conditions.
CFRA leave doesn’t have to be taken in one block. For a serious health condition, you can take it intermittently when medically necessary. Bonding leave can be taken in increments of at least two weeks, though the employer must grant shorter requests on at least two occasions.
Pregnancy Disability Leave
Pregnancy Disability Leave is separate from CFRA. It covers up to four months per pregnancy — defined by state regulation as 17⅓ weeks or 693 hours based on a 40-hour workweek — for anyone disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition.2California Legislative Information. California Code, Government Code GOV 12945 – Pregnancy, Childbirth, or Related Medical Conditions It applies at employers with five or more workers, and there’s no minimum length-of-service requirement. You’re eligible on day one.
Your healthcare provider decides when the disability period begins and ends. Qualifying conditions include severe nausea, physician-ordered bed rest, prenatal complications, and recovery from delivery. PDL is for the period of actual disability, not for bonding with the baby. Bonding is handled separately through CFRA or Paid Family Leave, and in many cases you can stack PDL and CFRA back-to-back for roughly seven months or more of combined time off.
Employers must also provide reasonable accommodations during pregnancy when your healthcare provider recommends them — modified duties, more frequent breaks, or a temporary transfer to less physically demanding work. Your health coverage continues on the same terms, and your position is held open unless it was eliminated for reasons wholly unrelated to your leave.
Paid Sick Leave
Since January 1, 2024, California employers must provide at least 40 hours, or five days, of paid sick leave per year. The law covers nearly all employees who work at least 30 days for the same employer in a year, including part-time and temporary workers.3California Department of Industrial Relations. California Paid Sick Leave – Frequently Asked Questions Under an accrual plan you earn one hour for every 30 hours worked, or the employer can front-load the full amount at the start of the year.
Paid sick leave can be used for your own health, for caring for a family member, and for absences related to domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. Starting in 2026, it also covers attending judicial proceedings for certain serious crimes where you or a family member is a victim. There’s no employer size threshold. Even a one-person business must comply.
Bereavement Leave
Employees with at least 30 days of service are entitled to up to five days of bereavement leave after the death of a family member. The law applies to public and private employers with five or more workers.4California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12945.7 – Bereavement Leave Covered relationships include spouse, child, parent, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, domestic partner, and parent-in-law. The five days don’t need to be consecutive, but all leave must be completed within three months of the death.
The leave is unpaid, though you can use accrued vacation, sick leave, or other paid time off to receive wages during the absence. Your employer may ask for documentation within 30 days of your first day of leave. A death certificate, published obituary, or written verification from a funeral home, religious institution, or government agency all qualify.
Reproductive Loss Leave
California provides up to five days of leave after a reproductive loss event. Qualifying events include a miscarriage, stillbirth, failed adoption, failed surrogacy, or an unsuccessful assisted reproduction procedure such as IVF or embryo transfer.5California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12945.6 – Reproductive Loss Leave The law covers employers with five or more employees, and you need at least 30 days of employment.
If you experience more than one reproductive loss event within a 12-month period, you’re entitled to leave for each one, up to a cap of 20 days total in that period. The days don’t have to be consecutive. The leave is unpaid unless you use accrued vacation or sick time, and your employer must keep the reason for your absence confidential.
Organ and Bone Marrow Donor Leave
Employers with 15 or more employees must grant paid leave for organ and bone marrow donation. Organ donors get up to 30 business days of paid leave in a 12-month period; bone marrow donors get up to five business days.6California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 1508-1513 – Organ and Bone Marrow Donation Paid employer-funded leave is unusual under California law, which makes this one worth knowing about.
Your employer can require you to use some existing paid time off first: up to two weeks of accrued sick or vacation time for organ donation, and up to five days for bone marrow donation. Beyond that, the employer pays your regular wages. You’ll need written medical verification that you’re a donor and how long recovery will take. This leave is separate from CFRA, and your employer cannot force you to exhaust other leave banks before using it.
Leave for Victims of Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault, or Crime
Two overlapping statutes protect crime victims at work. Labor Code section 230 applies to all employers regardless of size and protects your right to take time off to obtain a restraining order or attend court proceedings related to the crime.7California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 230 – Leave of Absence
Labor Code section 230.1 adds broader protections at employers with 25 or more workers. Under that section you can also take time off to seek medical treatment for injuries, get help from a domestic violence shelter or rape crisis center, receive psychological counseling, or participate in safety planning such as relocating.8California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 230.1 – Victims of Crime Leave Give reasonable advance notice when you can. For emergencies, the employer can’t retaliate as long as you later provide documentation — a police report, court order, or letter from a healthcare professional or counselor.
The reason for your leave must stay confidential, and the employer must make a good-faith effort to provide reasonable safety accommodations at work, such as changing your phone number, moving your workspace, or updating security procedures.
School Activities Leave
Parents, guardians, stepparents, foster parents, and grandparents of a school-age child can take up to 40 hours per year off work to participate in school or child care activities. The law applies at employers with 25 or more employees at the same location. Qualifying uses include enrolling a child in school, attending school events, and handling child care emergencies — situations where the school or provider asks that your child be picked up, or where the facility closes unexpectedly.9California Legislative Information. California Labor Code 230.8 – School Activities Leave
For planned absences like parent-teacher conferences, no more than eight hours can be used in a single calendar month, and you need to give reasonable advance notice. Emergencies don’t have that monthly cap; you just notify the employer as soon as possible. The leave is unpaid, but you can use vacation, personal leave, or comp time to cover the hours.
Military Service Leave
The federal Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act protects California employees who leave work for military service. There is no minimum employer size, no hours-worked requirement, and no length-of-service threshold. USERRA covers cumulative absences of up to five years with the same employer, with exceptions for involuntary extensions, required training, and certain activations during national emergencies.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC 4312 – Reemployment Rights of Persons Who Serve in the Uniformed Services
When you return, your employer must promptly reemploy you in the position you would have held had you never left, including any promotions, raises, or seniority you would have earned. Reporting deadlines depend on how long you served: after one to 30 days, you report the next business day; after 31 to 180 days, you have 14 days to reapply; after more than 180 days, you have 90 days.
You can continue your employer-sponsored health coverage for up to 24 months from the date your absence begins.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 38 USC Ch. 43 – Employment and Reemployment Rights Your employer cannot require you to use paid time off during military service, though you can choose to. USERRA applies in every California workplace, and its protections can’t be waived in an employment agreement.
Jury Duty, Court Appearances, and Voting
An employer cannot fire or discipline you for answering a jury summons, as long as you give reasonable advance notice. The same protection applies when you’re subpoenaed to appear as a witness.7California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 230 – Leave of Absence Private employers generally don’t have to pay you for jury or witness time, though many do voluntarily.
California also guarantees paid time off to vote. If you don’t have enough time outside working hours to get to the polls, you can take up to two hours of paid leave. The employer can require that you take it at the start or end of your shift and that you give at least two working days’ notice if you know in advance you’ll need the time.12California Secretary of State. Time off to Vote Notices Employers must post a notice about voting rights at least 10 days before any statewide election.
Emergency Responder Leave
Volunteer firefighters, reserve peace officers, and emergency rescue personnel are protected from retaliation for taking time off to respond to emergencies.13California Legislative Information. California Code Labor Code 230.3 – Emergency Duty Leave The leave is typically unpaid, but an employee fired or demoted for responding to an emergency call is entitled to reinstatement and reimbursement for lost wages. Separate provisions in the Labor Code extend similar protections to members of the Civil Air Patrol.
Which Leaves Actually Come With Pay
Most of the leaves above are unpaid. Your job is protected, but your paycheck stops. California partially fills that gap through two wage-replacement programs run by the Employment Development Department: State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave. Both are funded by employee payroll deductions, with an SDI withholding rate of 1.3 percent of all wages for 2026.14EDD. Contribution Rates, Withholding Schedules, and Meals and Lodging
SDI provides partial wage replacement when you can’t work because of a non-work-related illness, injury, or pregnancy. Benefits run for up to 52 weeks and replace roughly 70 to 90 percent of your wages depending on income, up to a maximum of $1,765 per week.15EDD. Disability Insurance Benefit Payment Amounts It’s the program most people on Pregnancy Disability Leave use to keep some income flowing.
Paid Family Leave provides up to eight weeks of wage replacement in a 12-month period for bonding with a new child or caring for a seriously ill family member, with the same benefit range and weekly cap as SDI.16EDD. Paid Family Leave Benefit Payment Amounts PFL does not provide job protection on its own; CFRA does, so most employees drawing PFL are also covered by CFRA’s reinstatement rights. There’s no minimum employer size and no hours-worked requirement — if SDI taxes come out of your paycheck, you’re likely eligible for PFL.
Beyond SDI and PFL, the leaves that are themselves paid directly by the employer are limited: paid sick leave, organ and bone marrow donor leave, and the two-hour voting leave. Everything else is unpaid unless you choose to apply accrued vacation, sick, or personal time to the absence.