October 22, 2018
California – New leave reason under paid family leave
California’s paid family leave law (CA PFL) provides up to 6 weeks of paid (but not job protected) leave of absence for family reasons. Current bases for which an employee can receive paid benefits include caring for a family member with a serious health condition and bonding with a new child. Recently the California legislature passed, and the Governor signed, a bill adding military exigencies as a leave reason for which an employee can receive paid leave. The events for which military exigency leave can be taken are the same as under FMLA, when the need is related to the military member’s active duty or call to active duty: 
- Matters related to short-notice deployment
- Military events and related activities
- Childcare and school activities
- Financial and legal arrangements
- Counseling (other than from a health care provider)
- Rest and recuperation
- Post-deployment activities
- Care for the parent of the military member
- Additional activities agreed to by the employer and employee
The new law will be effective January 1, 2021; not clear why the big delay! The law does not expand the total paid leave time available to employees under CA PFL, nor does it provide job protection for this leave. Eligible employees will continue to have job-protected military exigency leave for up to 12 weeks under FMLA, which will run concurrently if the leave is taken for a reason covered by both laws. However, military exigency leave is not provided by the California Family Rights Act (CFRA).
Pennsylvania – Expanding FMLA-like leave rights to care for more family members
The Pennsylvania legislature has revived a bill first introduced in 2017 that, if enacted, would provide FMLA-like leave based on additional family relationships and leave reasons. Senate Bill 479 seeks to add siblings, grandparents, and grandchildren as family members for whom an employee can take job-protected leave, but only in very limited circumstances. The state bill incorporates some of the federal Family and Medical Leave Act’s provisions, such as employee eligibility rules and the definitions of employee and employer.
The additional family relationships for which leave would be provided are:
- Grandparent: a biological or adoptive grandfather or grandmother or step-grandfather or step-grandmother
- Grandchild: a biological or adoptive grandson or granddaughter or step-grandson or step-granddaughter
- Sibling: a biological or adoptive brother or sister or stepbrother or stepsister
But, leave can be taken for these family members ONLY if the grandparent, grandchild, or sibling:
- Has a certified terminal illness AND
- Does not have a living spouse, child over 17 years of age or parent under 65 years of age
The bill, if passed, will provide 6 weeks of leave in a 12-month period that must be taken in minimum increments of one week. The leave will not run concurrently with FMLA because the new family relationships are not covered by FMLA. Conversely, however, FMLA leave taken will reduce an employee’s leave entitlement under the state statute. How that provision will work is not entirely clear, but presumably the state is trying to provide leave for additional reasons without increasing an employee’s total leave entitlement in a 12-month period to more than the 12 weeks provided by the FMLA.
The bill also contains employee notice and certification provisions.
New York – Lingering attempts to expand leave reasons under the Paid Family Leave Act
New York’s Paid Family Leave Act (NY PFL), which went into effect on January 1, 2018, currently provides paid leave for bonding, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, and military exigencies related to a family member’s active duty deployment. Benefits in 2018 are 8 weeks of leave paid at 50% of the employee’s average weekly wage (subject to a cap). Those will increase to 10 weeks at 55% in 2019. We provided a summary of the changes in this prior post. For a refresher on NY PFL and other recent developments, check out our earlier posts on this blog by searching “New York.” For more information, the official state website is here.
Several bills are currently pending in the New York legislative process for possible expansion of available leave reasons. Here is a summary of the most pertinent.
Bereavement. New York Senate Bill 8380A has passed both houses of the New York legislature and is awaiting (since June!) the governor’s signature or veto. If passed, the bill adds bereavement due to the death of a family member as a leave reason for NY PFL. Opponents of the bill point out that there is no time limit on usage of bereavement leave in relation to the date of the family member’s death, no limit on how much time can be used, and no limit on usage increments – so the employee can use bereavement leave in one-day increments as with other leaves under NY PFL.
Organ & tissue donation. New York Senate Bill 2496 is also awaiting the governor’s signature. If signed, this bill will amend NY PFL to add “transplantation preparation and recovery from surgery related to organ or tissue donation” to the definition of serious health condition. The bill does not make any additional changes to the NY PFL, but it does include a prohibition against discrimination in the provision of life, accident, health, and long term care insurance based on the status of an insured as a living organ or tissue donor.
Domestic violence. Also pending, but farther back in the legislative process, is Senate Bill No 7723 that would add matters related to domestic violence as reasons for which an employee can take NY PFL. Types of activities covered include getting medical attention, attending counseling sessions, seeking legal assistance, attendance in court proceedings, communicating with an attorney, relocating to a permanent or temporary residence. The bill limits the amount of paid leave available for these reasons to 2 weeks, plus an additional 2 weeks of unpaid leave. This bill has not made any headway in the legislature since early this year, but is still alive. We previously provided details about this problematic bill here.
Matrix Can Help!
At Matrix we monitor state and federal legislative developments daily and report on any new or advancing leave- and accommodation-related laws to keep our clients and other business partners up to date. If you ever have questions about leave and accommodation laws – current or just introduced! – please contact your account manager or send an email to [email protected].