California Code of Regulations › Title 2 - Administration › Division 4.1 - Civil Rights Department › Chapter 5 - Civil Rights Council › Subchapter 2 - Discrimination in Employment › Article 11 - California Family Rights Act › Section 11092 - Terms of CFRA Leave

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a)
					 The following rules apply to the permissible terms of a CFRA leave, to the
					 extent that they are consistent with the requirements of the Employee
					 Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Nothing in these regulations infringes
					 on the employer's obligations, if any, under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget
					 Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) or prohibits an employer from granting CFRA
					 leave on terms more favorable to the employee than those listed
					 below.
(b) Paid Leave.
An employer is not required to pay an employee during a
						CFRA leave except:
(1) An employee may
					 elect to use or an employer may require an employee to use any accrued vacation
					 time or other paid accrued time off (including undifferentiated paid time off
					 (PTO)), that the employee is eligible to take during the otherwise unpaid
					 portion of the CFRA leave. An employee may also elect to use, or an employer
					 may require an employee to use, any accrued sick leave that the employee is
					 eligible to take during the otherwise unpaid portion of a CFRA leave if the
					 CFRA leave is for the employee's own serious health condition or any other
					 reason if mutually agreed between the employer and the employee. If an employee
					 is receiving a partial wage replacement benefit during the CFRA leave, the
					 employer and employee may agree to have employer-provided paid leave, such as
					 vacation, paid time off, or sick time supplement the partial wage replacement
					 benefit, unless otherwise prohibited by law.
(2) For leave for an employee's own serious
					 health condition, the employee may also substitute leave taken pursuant to a
					 short- or long-term disability leave plan, as determined by the terms and
					 conditions of the employer's leave policy, during the otherwise unpaid portion
					 of the CFRA leave. This paid disability leave runs concurrently with CFRA leave
					 and may continue longer than the CFRA leave if permitted by the disability
					 leave plan. An employee receiving any form of disability payments is not on
					 "unpaid leave" and, therefore, an employer may not require the employee to use
					 paid time off, sick leave, or accrued vacation.
(3) An employee receiving Paid Family Leave
					 to care for the serious health condition of a family member or to bond with a
					 new child is not on "unpaid leave," and, therefore, an employer may not require
					 the employee to use paid time off, sick leave, or accrued vacation.
(4) Only if the employee requests leave for
					 what would be a CFRA-qualifying event may an employer require the employee to
					 use any accrued vacation time or other paid accrued time off (including PTO)
					 that the employee is eligible to take during the otherwise unpaid portion of
					 the CFRA leave. If an employee uses paid leave under circumstances that do not
					 qualify as CFRA leave, the leave will not count against the employee's CFRA
					 leave entitlement.
(A) If an employee
					 requests to utilize accrued vacation time or other paid accrued time off
					 without reference to a CFRA-qualifying purpose, an employer may not ask whether
					 the employee is taking the time off for a CFRA-qualifying purpose.
1. If the employer denies the employee's
					 request and the employee then provides information that the requested time off
					 is or may be for a CFRA-qualifying purpose, the employer may inquire further
					 into the reasons for the absence. If the absence is CFRA-qualifying, then the
					 applicable rules in section
					 11092(b)(1) and
					 (2), above,
					 apply.
(5) An
					 employer and employee may negotiate for the employee's use of any additional
					 paid or unpaid time off instead of using CFRA leave provided by this
					 section.