Source: https://dolanlawfirm.com/2019/04/
Timestamp: 2019-07-22 11:54:06
Document Index: 757101508

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 15600', '§ 15610', '§ 15657', '§ 15610', '§ 15610', '§ 15657']

April, 2019 | Dolan Law Firm
San Francisco is the first American city to pass a law in giving workers the right to request flexible work arrangements. (Courtesy photo)
This week’s question comes from Candice in San Leandro, who asks:
Q: I am a new mom and plan to return to work at a marketing firm in San Francisco next month. Fortunately, my mother-in-law will be able to take care of my baby most of the time, but she has to leave at 4:30 p.m. to go to work, so I will need to have a flexible schedule in order to be home by then. Do I have any right to request this kind of accommodation? Is there anything I should know about how to make the request? Thanks for your help.
A: Hi Candace, Congratulations on your new baby. There are many complicated decisions you have to make during this time of transition and I hope I am able to provide you some ease on this one.
We are fortunate in that San Francisco, which has always been on the cutting edge of employment mandates, is the first American city to pass a “right to request” law in giving workers the right to request flexible work arrangements. The San Francisco Family Friendly Workplace Ordinance (FFWO) took effect on Jan. 1, 2014 and applies to all San Francisco employers that regularly employ 20 or more people, whether or not all employees are located in San Francisco.
The ordinance provides rights and protections for qualifying employees who need flexible or predictable work arrangements in order to care for specific family members (spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, sibling, grandchild or grandparent) who are either (a) under age 18; (b) over age 65; or (c) living with a serious health condition (illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that requires either inpatient care or continuing healthcare treatment or supervision).
To qualify, the employee must:
-Be employed within the City of San Francisco;
-Regularly work at least 8 hours per week; and
-Have worked for their employer for at least 6 months.
Assuming that you qualify under this local provision, you have the right to request a flexible or predictable work arrangement to care for your child. If you don’t qualify under the FFWO, you could still qualify for intermittent time off and/or flexible schedule under certain state laws, such as the California Family Rights Act and New Parent Leave Act.
Under the FFWO, a request must be in writing and specify the arrangement applied for, the date on which the arrangement becomes effective, the duration of the arrangement, and how the request is related to caregiving. The flexible arrangement may include modified work schedules, change in start and end times, working from home and telecommuting. An employee may make up to two requests in a 12-month period, unless the employee experiences a major life event, in which case they may make an additional request during that timeframe. You can find a sample FFWO Request form on The City and County of San Francisco Office of Labor Standards Enforcement (OLSE)’s website https://sfgov.org/olse/family-friendly-workplace-ordinance-ffwo.
An employer must arrange to meet with the employee to discuss any FFWO request within 21 days after its receipt and must then provide a formal response within 21 days after the meeting. The employer’s decision must be made in writing and, if the request is denied, the employer must both provide the employee with a “bona fide business reason” for the denial and notify the employee of the right to request reconsideration. Should the employee request reconsideration, the employer must have a second meeting with the employee and issue a final decision 21 days after that meeting. Employers are further prohibited from retaliating against employees in any way for undertaking the FFWO request process.
“Bona fide business reasons” for a flexible work arrangement may include: identifiable costs, such as productivity loss, retraining or rehiring costs, or the costs of transferring employees; detrimental impact on the employer’s ability to meet customer or client demand; inability to organize work among other employees; or insufficient work time during the employee’s proposed schedule.
So, unless your employer has a bona fide business reason for denying your request, there should be no problem arranging for the modified hours you need to care for your child. If you do run into a problem, including if your employer fails to discuss the request with you or provide a response to the request within 21 days, or if you are retaliated against for making the request, you should contact a trial attorney to take appropriate legal action on your behalf.
This week’s question comes from Tara W. from Tiburon, who asks:
Q: “My grandmother is in a nursing home. She is bedbound and can’t use her legs. From my visits and conversations with her, it is clear that the nursing home personnel doesn’t get her out of bed or change her adult diaper nearly regularly enough and, as a result, she has developed two large sores on her bottom. We know it is not the best place for her, but it is all our family can afford. What rights does she have and what can I do to hold them responsible for not caring for my Grandma?
A: Dear Tara, As our society ages as a group, more and more facilities are springing up in the elder care business. Unfortunately, while many are caring and reputable, many others are poor quality and understaffed, with some resembling nothing more than warehouses for the elderly. In the context the Bay Area’s skyrocketing costs of living, many families like yours have no choice but to settle for substandard services.
California’s Elder and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act (“EADACPA”), codified in the California Welfare and Institutions Code, reflects the state legislature’s recognition that persons age 65 and older are a disadvantaged class worthy of heightened protection from the state because their age-related physical and mental limitations diminish their ability protect their rights on their own. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15600. EADACPA protections also apply to other disabled adults between 18 and 64 whose physical or developmental disabilities restrict their ability to carry out normal activities and are therefore either dependent on others for their basic and daily needs or admitted as inpatients to 24-hour health facilities. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.23(a)-(b). The law seeks to protect elders and dependents from abuse and neglect by providing an array of public and private legal remedies, including recovery for a victim’s pain and suffering, attorney’s fees, litigation costs, and punitive damages. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15657. By imposing the specter of these enhanced remedies in litigation, the law seeks to simultaneously disincentivize unlawful behavior and encourage private enforcement of the laws.
EADACPA defines neglect of an elder/dependent as “[t]he negligent failure of any person having the care or custody of an elder or a dependent adult to exercise that degree of care that a reasonable person in a like position would exercise,” which may take the form of failure to assist in personal hygiene, provide food, clothing, shelter, or medical care, or protect from health and safety hazards. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.57. Abuse is defined as deprivation by a care custodian of goods and services necessary to avoid physical harm or mental suffering, or as well as financial abuse, physical abuse, neglect, abandonment, isolation, abduction, or other treatment resulting in physical harm or pain or mental suffering. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15610.07.
To recover EADCPA’s enhanced remedies, including punitive damages, a plaintiff must prove by clear and convincing evidence not only that the defendant is liable for physical abuse, neglect, or financial abuse as defined by the act, but also that they are guilty of recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice in the commission of that abuse. Beyond a purely negligent absence of care, recklessness involves a deliberate disregard of the high degree of probability that an injury will occur, rising to the level of a conscious choice of a course of action with knowledge of the serious danger to others involved in it. Oppression, fraud, and malice further require intentional, willful, or conscious wrongdoing of a despicable or injurious nature. Cal. Welf. & Inst. Code § 15657.
Tara, from what you report, your grandmother’s situation sounds like it could qualify as neglect under EADCPA. Your family’s first step should be to file an administrative complaint. The allows any person or organization, not only victims and family members, to file a complaint about a nursing home with the Licensing and Certification Division of the California Department of Public Health (DPH). The DPH’s San Francisco office is located at 150 North Hill Drive Suite 22, Brisbane, CA 94005. Their phone number is (415) 330-6353.