5 employees or more? New CFRA rules impact pregnancy in CA. Are you ready?

QUESTION:

Allie in HR, for a CA company of 12 employees, is creating her first maternity/paternity leave policy. She wants to understand how the new CFRA regulations will impact pregnant employees and bonding for the parents/spouses. Allie wants to know if it makes sense to allow employees to take CFRA baby bonding leave intermittently (PDL is already available intermittently).  She wants her leave policy to be competitive and attractive to job seekers, but her company also offers unlimited PTO, which makes formulating this policy even more challenging. What will her leave policy look like, especially with the new CFRA regulations going into effect on January 1st, 2021?

ANSWER:

The state of CA has just implemented expanded CFRA protection, including Baby Bonding leave for both parents.   Effective 1.1.21    CFRA Baby Bonding does not run concurrent to Pregnancy Disability Leave. And remember they are both unpaid leaves. PDL already offers intermittent as needed leave, CFRA Baby Bonding does not require employers to provide leave be taken in that manner. If you allow employees to take CFRA Baby Bonding leave intermittently, the employee could be eligible to take up to 7 months (with PDL) of ongoing, as needed, unpredictable intermittently leave for over a 21 month period! My guess is your supervisors may become a bit frustrated with that level of unpredictability. 

The CFRA Bonding policy should also clarify how employees gain access to 12 weeks of Baby Bonding and will be your maternity/paternity leave policy as you are required to provide this benefit starting January 1, 2021. FYI this leave allows for up to 12 weeks a year, job protected and medical benefits continued at same level. And are you aware you could potentially use CFRA Baby Bonding before the baby is born? Now the unlimited PTO policy, well what can I say, that is just asking for challenges. Even unlimited is limited unless you are offering 7 months of paid time off, within one year. 17 1/3 weeks of potential PDL and 3 more months of CFRA Baby Bonding. Is that really your intent? Or is it really not unlimited J

Of course, you may be interested in also providing a separate maternity/paternity leave for employees who have worked for you less than the CFRA 1250 worked hour eligibility requirement in the year immediately preceding the leave and the CFRA one year cumulative work time in the past seven years. 

Think about it, is this an additional benefit you want to offer? How many days will you offer for EE’s who do not yet qualify for the new CFRA leave? And please make sure you are clear if it runs concurrent with CFRA Baby Bonding if they are eligible for both leaves? (If you have over 50 EE’s or are govt and EE’s are covered under FMLA – which does run concurrent with PDL, you will need a separate CFRA policy and leave integration strategy.)

But be very very careful to assure whatever non-CFRA leave you want to allow you can manage as a small employer. 12 weeks a year of leave, by the hour, day or week will be a big impact on small employers and the opportunity for fraud, abuse and non-compliance is high. There are costs, even though CFRA is an unpaid leave - not only due to the need to cover the position responsibilities and pay for the cost of temporary help -  but also because CFRA requires mandatory Medical Benefit continuation as well and job reinstatement – MANDATORY, except in very limited circumstances. And of course, there is compliance with FEHA and ADA if over 15 EE’s.

We will be conducting a workshop on February 3-5, 2021 – Livestream - Three / one half days of training. 

This training is designed to help employers understand the expanded CFRA. We will also do a deep dive for the employers with 5-49 employees, who now need to comply with expanded CFRA for the first time (and FEHA/ADA as well as PDL & COVID-19). CFRA runs concurrent with Workers’ Compensation also.  AND those employers with over 50 EE’s will need to determine how to integrate the expanding CFRA family coverage into their existing leave strategies and accommodation systems.

LMS provides guidance By HR for HR (and business owners, office managers, benefits/accounting) on how to implement these complex regulations. Don’t run afoul of two CA state regulations by incorrectly implementing the new CFRA. The Ultimate Guide to Medical Leaves and Accommodation --- JOIN US! You will earn 12 CEU’s ??