California’s Family & Medical Leave Act Strengthened
On September 24, 2013, California Governor Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 770 into law. This new law expands the existing California’s Paid Family Leave program, the State’s version of the Federal Family & Medical Leave Act, allowing workers to receive benefits while caring for a seriously ill parent, child, spouse, or registered domestic partner, and increases the definition to include grandparents, grandchildren, siblings and in-laws.
According to a press release from the California State Senate web site, State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara), who sponsored SB 770, the newly expanded program “will now more accurately reflect the broader range of caregiving responsibilities that families have in our state.” (Source: Press Release: Governor Signs Jackson Bill to Strengthen Paid Family Leave Program.)
In 2002, California became the first state in the country to sign a law that mandates a Paid Family Leave program to provide partial pay to workers taking time off to care for seriously ill family members or to bond with a new child. The program is funded through employee payroll deductions through an expansion of the State Disability Insurance (SDI) system, and provides up to six weeks of partial wage replacement benefits per year. The law will take effect on July 1, 2014.
We at The Cartwright Law Firm have represented many who have had their rights violated under this law. It seems that some employers are still not clear that the law applies to all companies regardless of the number of employees in that firm. If you have been denied your rights under the California or the Federal versions of the Act, contact our Employment Law Specialists at The Cartwright Law Firm today at 415-433-0444, and get a free consultation.
