California has enacted legislation that expands the list of crimes for which employees are entitled to take time off and allows employees to take time off to help family members who are the victims of such crimes. The law (Assembly Bill 2499) takes effect Jan.1, 2025.
The Details
Under existing law, employers are prohibited from discriminating or retaliating against employees for taking time off for jury duty, or for court appearances, or who are victims of crime or abuse.
Among other things, Assembly Bill 2499 replaces references to an experience of "crime or abuse" with the term "qualifying act of violence."
A qualifying act of violence is defined as any of the following, regardless of whether anyone is arrested for, prosecuted for, or convicted of committing any crime:
- Domestic violence
- Sexual assault
- Stalking
- An act, conduct, or pattern of conduct that includes any of the following:
Assembly Bill 2499 also expressly prohibits adverse action against an employee for taking time off to:
- Serve as required by law on an inquest jury or trial jury, if the employee, prior to taking the time off, gives reasonable notice to the employer that the employee is required to serve.
- Appear in court to comply with a subpoena or other court order as a witness in any judicial proceeding.
- Obtain or attempt to obtain any relief. Relief includes, but is not limited to, a temporary restraining order, restraining order, or other injunctive relief, to help ensure the health, safety, or welfare of the victim or their child.
Additional Leave Requirement for Certain Employers
An employer with 25 or more employees must allow an employee who is a victim or who has a family member who is a victim time off from work for any of the following purposes:
- To obtain or attempt to obtain any relief for the family member. Relief includes, but is not limited to, a temporary restraining order, restraining order, or other injunctive relief, to help ensure the health, safety, or welfare of the family member of the victim.
- To seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain, medical attention for or to recover from injuries caused by a qualifying act of violence.
- To seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, program, rape crisis center, or victim services organization or agency because of a qualifying act of violence.
- To seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain psychological counseling or mental health services related to an experience of a qualifying act of violence.
- To participate in safety planning or take other actions to increase safety from future qualifying acts of violence.
- To relocate or engage in the process of securing a new residence due to the qualifying act of violence, including, but not limited to, securing temporary or permanent housing or enrolling children in a new school or childcare.
- To provide care to a family member who is recovering from injuries caused by a qualifying act of violence.
- To seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain civil or criminal legal services in relation to the qualifying act of violence.
- To prepare for, participate in, or attend any civil, administrative, or criminal legal proceeding related to the qualifying act of violence.
- To seek, obtain, or provide childcare or care to a care-dependent adult if the childcare or care is necessary to ensure the safety of the child or dependent adult because of the qualifying act of violence.
Family Member
A family member is defined as a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, domestic partner or designated person. For purposes of the law, designated person means any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. The designated person may be identified by the employee at the time the employee requests the leave. An employer may limit an employee to one designated person per 12-month period for leave under the law.
Length of Leave
In general, an employer may limit this leave to 12 weeks. However, if an employee’s family member is a victim who is not deceased as a result of a crime, and the employee is not a victim, and the employee takes leave for the family member’s relocation, the employer may limit the leave taken for that reason to five days. If any employee’s family member is a victim who is not deceased as a result of crime, and the employee is not a victim, the employer may limit the total leave taken to 10 days.
Employee Notice and Certification
As a condition of taking time off for a purpose covered by the law, the employee must give the employer reasonable advance notice of the employee’s intention to take time off, unless the advance notice isn’t feasible.
When an unscheduled absence occurs, the employer is prohibited from taking any action against the employee if the employee, within a reasonable time after the absence, provides a certification to the employer upon request by the employer. Sufficient certification includes:
- A police report indicating that the employee or a family member of the employee was a victim.
- A court order protecting or separating the employee or a family member of the employee from the perpetrator of the qualifying act of violence, or other evidence from a court or prosecuting attorney that the employee or a family member of the employee has appeared in court.
- Documentation from a licensed medical professional, domestic violence counselor, a sexual assault counselor, victim advocate, licensed health care provider, or counselor that the employee or a family member of the employee was undergoing treatment or seeking or receiving services directly related to the qualifying act of violence.
- Any other form of documentation that reasonably verifies that the qualifying act of violence occurred, including, but not limited to, a written statement signed by the employee, or an individual acting on the employee’s behalf, certifying that the absence is for a purpose authorized under this policy.
Reasonable Accommodations
The reasonable accommodation provisions of the new law are like those of existing law. As such, all employers must provide reasonable accommodations for an employee who is a victim or whose family member is a victim of a qualifying act of violence who requests an accommodation for the safety of the employee while at work, unless it would impose an undue hardship on the employer.
Reasonable accommodations may include the implementation of safety measures, including
- A transfer, reassignment, or modified schedule;
- Changed work telephone, permission to carry telephone at work, changed workstation, or installed lock;
- Assistance in documenting a qualifying act of violence that occurs in the workplace;
- An implemented safety procedure, or another adjustment to a job structure, workplace facility, or work requirement in response to a qualifying act of violence, or referral to a victim assistance organization.
An employer is not required to provide a reasonable accommodation to an employee who has not disclosed the employee’s status, or the employee’s family member’s status, as a victim.
The employer must engage in a timely, good faith, and interactive process with the employee to determine effective reasonable accommodations.
Upon the request of an employer, an employee requesting a reasonable accommodation must provide the employer a written statement signed by the employee or an individual acting on the employee’s behalf, certifying that the accommodation is for a purpose authorized by law.
Interaction with Other Leave Laws
The law doesn’t create a right for an employee to take unpaid leave that exceeds the unpaid 12 weeks of leave allowed under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA).
Leave taken by an employee under the law must run concurrently with leave taken under the FMLA and the California Family Rights Act, if the employee would have been eligible for that leave.
Employer Notice
Employers must inform each employee of their rights established under the law in writing. The information must be provided to new employees upon hire, to all employees annually, at any time upon request, and any time an employee informs an employer that the employee or the employee’s family member is a victim. The state’s Civil Rights Department will draft a model form by July 1, 2025, that employers may use.
Next Steps
- Review policies and practices to ensure compliance with the changes.
- Provide the model notice to employees once published by the state.
- Train supervisors on the new law.