Federal and California laws allow for unpaid leave for family, pregnancy and medical reasons. The federal law is called the Family and Medical Leave Act; the state law is called the California Family Rights Act and Pregnancy Disability Leave Law.

Family and Medical Leave
Family and medical leave laws apply to private employers with at least 50 employees, and all public employees.

To be eligible, an employee must have more than 12 months of service with the employer and have worked at least 1,250 hours for that employer in the 12 month period before the leave began.

An eligible employee may take unpaid leave:

To bond with a newborn or adopted or foster child; or
To care for a parent, spouse or child with a serious health condition.

Full time employees may take leave up to 12 work weeks in a 12 month period; part time employees on a proportional basis.

California law allows leave under the California Family Rights Act, separate and apart from leave under the Pregnancy Disability Leave Law. This means eligible employees may apply leave under each law consecutively.

Employers are not required to pay employees during leave, and can require employees to use paid vacation.

After the leave of absence, employees are guaranteed a return to the same or comparable position. This requires the employer to offer a position comparable in pay, location, job content and promotional opportunities, unless the employer can prove no comparable position exists. An employee is not entitled to reinstatement if the employee would have been laid off or terminated. Retaliation is strictly prohibited.

Pregnancy Disability Leave

Pregnancy disability leave is available under California law. It applies to private employers with five or more employees and all public employees. There is no length of service requirement.

A pregnant employee who is disabled by her pregnancy may take up to four months unpaid leave (that is, leave equal to the number of days the employee would usually work during a four month period, which is 88 days for a full time employee.) To qualify as a "disability," the employee must be unable to perform the essential function of the job, or perform the job without undue risk. Bonding with a newborn does not qualify under the Pregnancy Disability Leave Law.

An employer who provides pay for other temporary disability leave, must also for pregnancy disability leave. The amount of pay depends on the number of employees at the company.

Generally, an employer must reinstate the employee to the same position she held when the leave began, or a comparable position.

Pregnancy Disability Leave is in addition to leave under the California Family Rights Act and need not run concurrently.

Procedure and Remedies Under Family, Medical and Pregnancy Leave Laws

Under federal law, a complaint must be filed within a reasonable time of no more than two years after the violation or three years for a willful violation. Under California law, a complaint must be filed within one year of the last act of discrimination. An aggrieved employee must file a complaint with the government before pursuing a civil lawsuit.

A successful employee may recover wages, salary, employment benefits and other denied compensation, prejudgment interest, attorney’s fees and other remedies.

The information you obtain on this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.