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California Family Rights Act of 1993 (CFRA)
Practical Law Glossary Item 8-506-9354 (Approx. 5 pages)
Glossary
California Family Rights Act of 1993 (CFRA)
Also known as the Moore-Brown-Roberti Family Rights Act (Cal. Gov't Code §§ 12945.1, 12945.2, and 19702.3). A California law requiring covered employers to give eligible employees unpaid, job protected leave from employment for certain family or medical reasons.
On September 17, 2020, Governor Newsom signed S.B. 1383, which became effective on January 1, 2021. This law significantly expands CFRA's protections, most notably by expanding its coverage to private employers with five or more employees, instead of the former 50-employee threshold. The New Parent Leave Act (NPLA) child bonding protections became a part of the CFRA, and the NPLA was repealed on January 1, 2021.
Effective January 1, 2021, covered employers include:
- Private employers engaged in any business or enterprise in California that directly employ five or more employees in any state, the District of Columbia, or any US territory to perform services for a wage or salary.
- The state of California and any other political or civil subdivision of the state and cities, regardless of the number of employees.
Employees are eligible for CFRA leave if the employee:
- Has been employed for a total of at least 12 months (52 weeks) with the employer at any time before starting CFRA leave.
- Has actually worked (within the meaning of the California Labor Code and Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders) for the employer at least 1,250 hours during the 12-month period immediately before the date leave is to begin.
Effective January 1, 2021, employers can no longer deny a leave request to an employee working at a worksite with fewer than 50 employees within a 75-mile radius.
The CFRA authorizes an eligible employee up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period:
- For the birth, adoption, or foster placement of their child.
- To care for the serious health condition or their child, spouse, registered domestic partner, and parent. Effective January 1, 2021, grandparent, grandchild, and sibling were added to the list of covered family members. The definition of child also expanded to include a child of any age and a registered domestic partner's child. Effective January 1, 2022, the definition of parent includes parent-in-law, which is either the parent of an employee's spouse or registered domestic partner.
- For their own serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the functions of their position, except for leave taken for disability due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
- For the qualifying exigency related to the covered active duty or call to covered active duty of an employee's spouse, registered domestic partner, child, or parent in the US Armed Forces, as defined in Cal. Unemp. Ins. Code § 3302.2. Effective January 1, 2021, this added CFRA qualifying reason generally matches an FMLA-qualifying reason, except registered domestic partners are not covered under the FMLA.
The CFRA is not preempted by the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) (29 C.F.R. § 825.701(a)). While the two laws have many similarities, a major difference from the FMLA is that leave for pregnancy and childbirth-related disabilities is covered separately by California's Pregnancy Disability Leave Law (PDLL) and not by the CFRA (Cal. Gov't Code § 12945). Other major differences include:
- The FMLA applies to private employers with 50 employees, while the new CFRA applies to those with five employees.
- An employee can qualify for leave under the CFRA, but not the FMLA to care for a serious health condition of an employee's registered domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling.
- The FMLA provides 26 weeks of leave in a 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness (often referred to as military caregiver leave), while the CFRA does not.
For more information, see Practice Note, Managing Leaves of Absence Under the CFRA (CA) and FMLA, CFRA, and PDL Comparison Chart (CA). For more resources about the CFRA, see State Employee Leave Toolkit: California.
Regulations governing the CFRA are administered by the California Civil Rights Council (CRC) (formerly the Fair Employment and Housing Council (FEHC)). Complaints of alleged violations of the CFRA are filed with the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) (formerly the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH)).