California Family Rights Act
In addition to the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”), California has its own analogous state law—the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”). The FMLA and CFRA contain similar provisions and typically run concurrently with each other. However, there are various circumstances where an employee’s leave will be FMLA-only, or CFRA-only. California employers with 5 or more employees must be familiar with the nuances between these two kinds of leave and how the federal and state laws interact.
Paid Sick Leave
Under NRS 608.0197, employers with 50 or more employees in Nevada are required to provide their employees with mandatory paid time off (“PTO”) at a rate of 0.01923 hours per hour worked. This leave must be available for employees to use for any reason.
In contrast, California employees who work 30 days or more within California in a given year must be permitted to take at least three days or 24 hours (whichever is greater) of paid sick leave per year. The leave may be used for, among other things, the existing health conditions or preventative care of the employees or their family members. Administering paid sick leave entails numerous specific requirements relating to, for example, eligibility, accrual methods and caps, record keeping, and year-to-year carryover.
There are many differences between Nevada’s mandatory PTO law and California’s mandatory paid sick leave law, with which employers doing business across the border must be familiar.
Specialized Forms of Leave
In addition, California has enacted laws providing for numerous types of specific protected leave, enough to make any HR director’s head spin. For example, depending on business size, employers may be required to provide pregnancy disability leave, new parent leave, paid family leave, civil air patrol leave, organ or bone marrow donation leave, school activity leave, crime victim leave, or leave to perform duties as volunteer rescue personnel.
An employer doing business in California will need to keep them straight, and administer all types of leave in accordance with the law.
