“Leave of Absence” in California – What Workers Need to Know

A “leave of absence” is when you temporarily take time off work, but with the intention of returning to work and keeping the job. Common reasons include

• childbirth,
• treatment for a medical condition,
• caring for a family member with a medical condition, or
• military deployment.

In California, state and federal law allow for paid or unpaid leaves of absence in a variety of situations.

Some leave laws provide wage replacement, such as unemployment disability benefits. When the leave period ends, you can return to work in the same or an equivalent position. If the employer denies leave or does not let you return, a lawsuit can be filed.

In California, if you are eligible, you can make use of the following types of paid or unpaid leave for the following time periods:

Type of leave of absence	Maximum length of absence	Paid or unpaid
Sick Leave	Number of hours you accrued	Paid
Kin Care Leave	Half of your sick leave hours	Paid
Family Sick Leave under CFRA	12 weeks	Unpaid
Family Sick Leave under FMLA	12 weeks	Unpaid
New Parent Leave	12 weeks	Unpaid
Pregnancy Disability Leave	4 months	Unpaid
Paternity Leave	12 weeks	Unpaid
Bereavement Leave	5 days	Unpaid
Voting Leave	Sufficient time to vote	Paid (up to 2 hours)
Crime Victims Leave	As long as necessary	Unpaid
Domestic Violence Victim Leave	As long as necessary	Unpaid
Jury Duty or Subpoena Leave	As long as necessary	Unpaid
Military Injury Leave	26 weeks	Unpaid
Military Spouse Leave	10 days	Unpaid
Leave for School Activities	40 hours per year	Unpaid
Literacy Education Leave	Reasonable accommodations	Unpaid
Drug or Alcohol Rehab Leave	Reasonable accommodations	Unpaid
Organ or Bone Marrow Donor Leave	5 days for bone marrow, 30 days for an organ donation	Unpaid

It is advised that you notify your employer in writing as soon as you know you will be needing leave. Make sure to include which dates you will need off. Depending on the case, you may want to include supporting documentation as proof.

What types of leave of absence can I take in California?

In California, you have a wide variety of leave of absence options. Some are guaranteed by federal law. Many come from California state law. Each covers a particular circumstance. While some are paid, most are not, though some employers choose to pay when they are not legally required to do so. Some last for months, while some others only excuse your absence for a couple of hours.

In addition to the state and federal employment laws that provide leaves of absence, there are also local leave laws that may cover you. For example, the Paid Sick Leave Ordinance in the city of Los Angeles requires employers to provide paid sick leave if you work at least 2 hours in a week for the same employer for 30 or more days in a year.¹

However, not all employees are covered by these laws. For example, many types of leaves of absence in California come from the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). You are only eligible for CFRA leave if you:

• have been employed for at least 12 months before starting CFRA leave, and
• worked at least 1,250 hours for your employer.²

You have to be employed by a covered employer. Due to recent changes in the law, a covered employer is one that:

• has 5 or more employees, or
• is a political or civil subdivision of the State of California.³

If you are ineligible or work for an uncovered employer, you may be left without leave of absence rights. However, you may still have employee rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) or the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) that require your employer to make reasonable accommodations for a disability.

Sick leave

One of the most commonly used types of leave is sick leave. This is for when you get sick, personally. California law entitles you, if you work more than 30 days in a year, to accrue at least 1 hour of sick time for every 30 hours worked.⁴ This leave is paid, though the employer can limit the amount of sick time accrued to 24 hours per year.⁵

Note that during the coronavirus pandemic, California law increased the amount of sick leave available. These protections, however, are beginning to expire.

Also note that, depending on your case, your employer may be required to give you leave once you notify them about your illness or disability – even if you have not been able to secure medical documentation yet.⁶

Many cities and counties in California provide additional sick time or looser accrual restrictions.⁷

If you have exhausted your paid sick leave, you can take unpaid sick leave under the CFRA.⁸ While this law is typically used so you can care for sick family members, it extends to your own serious health condition, as well.

Note that if you are severely under stress and are risking burnout, see a doctor. It may be possible to take off work by using sick days or through Disability Insurance (DI).

Kin care leave

In California, you can use up to half of your paid sick time as kin care leave.⁹ This lets you use sick time to care for a family member who is sick, like a:

• child,
• parent,
• spouse,
• registered domestic partner,
• grandparent,
• grandchild, or
• sibling.¹⁰

Unlike for family sick leave under the CFRA or FMLA (see below), kin care leave does not require the family member to suffer from a serious medical condition. Any sickness suffices.¹¹

Family sick leave under the CFRA or FMLA

Both state and federal law provides family medical leave for when your family member is sick and needs care. California’s state law is generally more generous to workers.

The CFRA lets you (if you are eligible) take up to 12 weeks of leave to care for an eligible family member who has a serious health condition. The leave is usually unpaid, unless you qualify for wage replacement benefits under:

• state disability insurance, or
• a paid family leave (PFL) program.

While on leave, though, you are entitled to continue to receive your health insurance benefits.¹² When the leave period expires, you are entitled to your old job, or to one that is nearly identical.¹³

If you are an eligible employee of a covered employer, you can take CFRA leave to care for certain family members, including a:

• child,
• foster child,
• spouse,
• registered domestic partner,
• parent,
• grandparent,
• grandchild,
• sibling, or
• designated person (any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship).¹⁴

These family members have to be suffering from a serious health condition. Such a qualifying condition is a physical or mental condition that requires:

• inpatient care at a hospital, hospice, or residential health care facility, or
• continuing treatment or supervision by a health care provider.¹⁵

You are entitled to 12 weeks of CFRA leave in a 12-month period.¹⁶

You can also take family sick leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). However, fewer employers and employees are covered by the FMLA, and FMLA leave is always unpaid.¹⁷

New parent leave

The CFRA also entitles you, if eligible, to a leave of absence following the birth of a child or placement of a foster child.¹⁸ The leave can last up to 12 weeks. You are entitled to 12 weeks of new parent leave in a 12-month period. New parent leave under the CFRA is generally unpaid, though you may be eligible for wage replacement benefits.

This type of leave of absence used to be covered by the California New Parent Leave Act. However, this law was repealed by Senate Bill 1383 in 2020 and the coverage that it provided was shifted into the CFRA.

Pregnancy disability leave

If you are an expectant mother “disabled” due to your pregnancy, California law gives you up to 4 months of pregnancy disability leave (PDL) – which is about 122 calendar days. This form of leave only applies if your employer:

• employs 5 or more people,
• is a state or local governmental entity, or
• is an agent of a covered employer.¹⁹

You are “disabled” if your healthcare provider thinks that you are unable to perform an essential job function due to your pregnancy. Some conditions that can arise to the level of a disability for pregnancy leave include:

• severe morning sickness,
• gestational diabetes,
• hypertension,
• preeclampsia, and
• loss of pregnancy.²⁰

Pregnancy disability leave is unpaid, unless you are eligible for a source of wage replacement benefits. However, you are entitled to your employer-provided health care coverage.

After the birth of the baby, you may also be entitled to new parent leave under the CFRA.

Paternity leave

Both the state CFRA and the federal FMLA provides 12 work weeks per year of paternity leave for eligible new fathers. This leave is meant to allow you to bond or connect with a newborn child, adopted child, or child in foster care. It is generally unpaid, though you may be eligible for wage reimbursement through the California Paid Family Leave (PFL) Program.

Paternity leave under the CFRA must be taken within 1 year of:

• the birth of the new child, or
• the date of a serious health condition.²¹

Bereavement leave

In California, if your employer has five or more employees, CFRA guarantees you five days of unpaid bereavement leave for a deceased:

• spouse or domestic partner,
• child,
• parent,
• sibling,
• grandparent,
• grandchild, and
• parent-in-law.

This time is typically used to plan and attend a funeral and make other arrangements.

Learn more about Assembly Bill 1949. There are no federal laws that guarantee you the opportunity to take bereavement leave.

Voting leave

If you cannot vote in a statewide election outside of working hours, you are entitled to take off enough time at the start or end of your shift to vote. Voting leave is paid for the first 2 hours off. You have to give your employer at least 2 working days of notice that you intend to take voting leave.²²

Crime victim leave

In California, you are entitled to crime victim leave. This leave protects you from workplace retaliation for taking time off from work to participate in:

• judicial proceedings related to an eligible crime (including pre-trial proceedings, trials, sentencing, and post-conviction proceedings),²³ or
• a proceeding involving victims’ rights.²⁴

In order to be entitled to take this leave of absence, you must provide your employer reasonable advance notice, if feasible.²⁵

This type of leave is unpaid. However, you can use paid time off, like a vacation day, instead.

Domestic violence victim leave

If you are a victim of domestic violence, you are entitled to 2 forms of leaves of absence from work:

1. to seek legal help,²⁶ and
2. to get medical help or make use of domestic violence support services.²⁷

Both are unpaid leaves. However, you are free to use paid time off (PTO) on these days, instead.

First, as a victim of domestic violence, you are protected from retaliation if you take time off work to seek any of the following types of legal relief:

• a temporary restraining order,
• any other form of restraining order, or
• other injunctive relief to ensure the health, safety, or welfare of you or your child.²⁸

Second, you are protected from retaliation if you take time off from work to:

• seek medical care for injuries caused by crime or abuse,
• obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, program, victim services organization, or rape crisis center,
• get psychological counseling, or
• participate in safety planning to prevent future abuse, including relocation.²⁹

However, you are entitled to protection while seeking medical help only if your employer has 25 or more employees.³⁰ You must provide your employer with reasonable advance notice, unless it is not feasible to do so.³¹

Jury duty and subpoena leave

Both federal law and California law guarantee leave if you have been called to jury duty or to testify in court under a subpoena. The leave is unpaid. It lasts for as long as necessary, given the trial or other court proceeding. You have to give your employer reasonable notice that you have been called to serve on a jury.³²

Employers are allowed to demand proof of jury service or testimony. You can request this documentation from the court.

Military injury leave

The FMLA provides up to 26 weeks of unpaid leave in a 12-month period for you to care for a sick or injured military service member. The service member has to be your:

• spouse,
• child,
• parent, or
• next of kin.³³

Military spouse leave

In California, you are entitled to 10 days of unpaid leave if you are the spouse of a military service member who is deployed during a period of military conflict. You can take this leave of absence at any time during your spouse’s deployment.

To be eligible, though, you must:

• work for an employer that employs 25 or more people,
• work 20 or more hours per week, and not as an independent contractor,
• notify your employer of your intent to take military spouse leave within 2 days of receiving notice of your spouse’s upcoming deployment, and
• provide proof of that deployment.³⁴

Parental leave for school activities

If eligible, you can take up to 40 hours off from work each year for your eligible child’s school activities. School activity leave in California lets you take time off to:

• participate in school or child care activities with your child,
• find, enroll, or re-enroll your child in a school or at a licensed child care provider, or
• address a school or child care emergency.³⁵

The leave is unpaid. It is also only available if you have used all vacation, personal leave, or other paid time off already.³⁶ You must provide notice of your intent to take school activities leave.

To have eligibility, you must work at an employer that has 25 or more employees, and either be a parent or a licensed child care provider.³⁷

Eligible parents include:

• parents,
• legal guardians,
• stepparents,
• foster parents,
• grandparents, or
• someone else who stands in loco parentis to the child.³⁸

Literacy education leave

If you reveal to your employer that you struggle with illiteracy, you are entitled to literacy education leave. You are eligible only if your employer regularly employs 25 or more people.³⁹

This type of leave is different from others in that it does not entitle you to time away from the workplace. Rather, a California employer has to:

• make reasonable accommodations for you,
• help you find and enroll in a literacy education program or arrange for a tutor or other teacher to visit your place of work,
• refrain from retaliating against you for your illiteracy, and
• take reasonable efforts to keep your illiteracy private.⁴⁰

Time off work on literacy education leave is unpaid.

Leave for drug or alcohol rehab

Employers with 25 or more employees are legally obligated to provide leave for drug or alcohol rehabilitation. This type of leave requires these employers to provide reasonable accommodations for you if you voluntarily want to enter a treatment program. It is unpaid leave, though you may use sick time, instead. Employers are not allowed to retaliate against you for seeking rehab, unless you would be unable to perform your job duties without endangering someone. Employers are also required to make reasonable efforts to keep your enrollment in a treatment program private.⁴¹

Organ or bone marrow donor leave

In California, you are entitled to:

• 30 days of unpaid leave to donate an organ, or
• 5 days of unpaid leave to donate bone marrow.⁴²

It is up to you to verify that you are a donor and that there is a medical necessity for the donation.⁴³ Employers can require bone marrow donors to take a form of paid time off, instead, and can require organ donors to use 2 weeks of paid time off, first.⁴⁴

How long can I take a leave of absence?

The length of the leave of absence will depend on the type of leave. The maximum leave periods in California vary from military injury leave (26 weeks or 6 months) and pregnancy disability leave (4 months) down to voting leave (2 hours). Some forms of leave only require the employer to make reasonable accommodations for your absence.

Do I get paid for my leave of absence in California?

It depends on the type of leave and the company’s policy. Most leaves of absence are not legally required to be paid. Only the following types of leave have to be paid under California law:

• sick leave,
• kin care leave, and
• voting leave.

All other types of leave can be unpaid. However, some employers choose to pay for certain types of leave, like bereavement leave. These company policies will be in the employment contract, collective bargaining agreement, or employee handbook.

Additionally, you may be eligible for temporary disability insurance or a paid family leave (PFL) program. If you were hurt or made sick on the worksite, you may also be paid workers’ compensation.

Can I collect unemployment during my leave?

In California, if you take a leave of absence from work, you may be eligible for unemployment benefits through the Paid Family Leave (PFL) program. PFL provides up to 8 weeks of unemployment benefits in a 12-month period. Those benefits are between 60 and 70 percent of your weekly wage, prior to the injury.

To be eligible for unemployment benefits through PFL, you must:

• be employed or actively looking for work when the period of leave began,
• be unable to do your regular job,
• have had at least $300 withheld from wages in State Disability Insurance (SDI) deductions in a 12-month period of time before going on leave,
• lose wages in order to:
  • care for a seriously ill family member or designated person,
  • bond with a new child, or
  • help a spouse, parent, child, or registered domestic partner in your military deployment to a foreign country by:
    • making financial arrangements,
    • caring for your offspring or parents,
    • attending a military-sponsored event, or
    • helping the military member during a rest and recuperation military leave.⁴⁵

Do I get my old job back?

Nearly all forms of workplace leave include job protection. If you are on job-protected leave, you are legally entitled to your old job when you return from leave, or to a job that is substantially similar. A different job is generally similar if it has an equivalent:

• pay,
• benefits, and
• working conditions.⁴⁶

If you are not offered your old job or a similar one, you can file a lawsuit and demand reinstatement.

Can my employer deny a request for a leave of absence in California?

Employers may deny employer-provided sick leave for reasons set out in the employment contract. However, they generally cannot deny your request for leave under state or federal law, like the FMLA or CFRA.

Some situations where an employer can deny FMLA or CFRA leave are if:

• the employer is not covered by the law,
• you are not legally eligible for leave,
• family medical leave is being requested but the family member’s condition is not serious enough,
• you provided insufficient notice, or
• you have not provided the necessary information to support the request, such as proof that your spouse is an active duty service member and is being deployed.

You can file a lawsuit against your employer if your employer:

• wrongfully denies you leave you are entitled to; or
• retaliates against you (including firing you) for taking legally-protected leave.

See our related article on suing for wrongful termination.

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