California Expands Its Family Leave Insurance Program
Author: Melissa Burdorf, XpertHR Legal Editor
September 26, 2013
On September 24, California's Governor Jerry Brown signed S.B. 770, expanding California's family temporary disability insurance (FTDI) program. The new law allows California employees to receive paid family leave (PFL) benefits while caring for a seriously ill:
- Grandparent;
- Grandchild;
- Sibling (i.e., a person related to the employee/claimant by blood, adoption, or affinity through a legal or biological parent); or
- Parent-in-law, which includes the parent of a domestic partner.
Currently, California employees can use up to six weeks of PFL benefits to care for their parent, spouse, child, registered domestic partner or same-sex spouse. The expansion of the FTDI program makes California the first state to provide this benefit for grandchildren and siblings. Rhode Island will cover seriously ill grandparents and parent-in-laws starting January 1, 2014. However, unlike Rhode Island's new law, S.B. 770 does not provide an employee with job protection or reinstatement rights. An employee's job will be protected if the employee is also covered by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) or the California Family Rights Act (CFRA).
While the FTDI program is funded entirely by employee payroll deductions, as Sharon Terman, senior staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center (a sponsor of the bill) explains, many employees are unable to use their FTDI benefits because their family members are excluded. With the expansion of FTDI (at no additional cost to employees), more employees will be able to care for close family members who face serious illnesses without sacrificing their financial security.
The law takes effect July 1, 2014. Employers should modify any existing policies to conform to the new law's requirements.