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 11090 - Computation of Time Periods: Twelve Workweeks; Minimum Duration

Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 28, July 12, 2024
(a) CFRA leave does
					 not need to be taken in one continuous period of time. It cannot exceed more
					 than 12 workweeks total for any purpose in a 12-month period.
(b) If the leave is common to both CFRA and
					 FMLA, this 12-month period will run concurrently with the 12-month period under
					 FMLA. An employer may choose any of the methods (the calendar year, any fixed
					 12-month "leave year," the 12-month period measured forward from the date any
					 employee's first CFRA leave begins, or a "rolling" 12-month period measured
					 backward from the date an employee uses any CFRA leave) allowed in the FMLA
					 regulations that became effective March 8, 2013,
					 29 C.F.R. Part 825, section
					 825.200, subdivision (b), for determining the
					 12-month period in which the 12 weeks of CFRA leave entitlement occurs. The
					 employer must, however, apply the chosen method consistently and uniformly to
					 all employees in California and notify employees requesting CFRA leave of its
					 chosen method. If an employer fails to select one of the above methods for
					 measuring the 12-month period, the method that provides the most beneficial
					 outcome for the employee will be used. An employer wishing to change to another
					 method is required to give at least 60 days' notice to all employees, and the
					 transition must take place in such a way that the employees retain the full
					 benefit of 12 weeks of leave under whichever method affords the greatest
					 benefit to the employee. Under no circumstance may a new method be implemented
					 in order to avoid the Act's leave requirements.
(c) "Twelve workweeks" as that term is
					 defined in section
					 11087(s), means
					 the equivalent of 12 of the employee's normally scheduled workweeks. For
					 eligible employees who work more or less than five days a week, or who work on
					 alternative work schedules, the number of working days that constitutes 12
					 workweeks is calculated on a pro rata or proportional basis. If an employee's
					 schedule varies from week to week to such an extent that an employer is unable
					 to determine with any certainty how many hours the employee would otherwise
					 have worked (but for the taking of CFRA leave), a weekly average of the hours
					 scheduled over the 12 months prior to the beginning of the leave period
					 (including any hours for which the employee took leave of any type) shall be
					 used for calculating the employee's leave entitlement.
(1) For example, for a full-time employee who
					 works five eight-hour days per week, 12 workweeks means 60 working and/or paid
					 eight-hour days of leave entitlement. For an employee who works half time, 12
					 workweeks may mean 30 eight-hour days or 60 four-hour days, or 12 workweeks of
					 whatever is the employee's normal half-time work schedule. For an employee who
					 normally works six eight-hour days, 12 workweeks means 72 working and/or paid
					 eight-hour days of leave entitlement.
(2) If an employee takes leave on an
					 intermittent or reduced work schedule, only the amount of leave actually taken
					 may be counted toward the 12 weeks of leave to which the employee is entitled.
					 For example, if an employee needs physical therapy that requires an absence
					 from work of two hours a week, only those two hours may be charged against the
					 employee's CFRA leave entitlement. If an employee needs leave intermittently or
					 on a reduced leave schedule for planned medical treatment, then the employee
					 must make a reasonable effort to schedule the treatment so as not to disrupt
					 unduly the employer's operations.
(3) If a holiday falls within a week taken as
					 CFRA leave, the week is nevertheless counted as a week of CFRA leave. If,
					 however, the employer's business activity has temporarily ceased for some
					 reason and employees generally are not expected to report for work for one or
					 more weeks, (e.g., a school closing for two weeks for the Christmas/New Year
					 holiday or summer vacation or an employer closing the plant for retooling), the
					 days the employer's activities have ceased do not count against the employee's
					 CFRA entitlement. Similarly, if an employee uses CFRA leave in increments of
					 less than one week, the fact that a holiday may occur within a week in which an
					 employee partially takes leave does not count against the employee's CFRA
					 entitlement unless the employee was otherwise scheduled and expected to work
					 during the holiday.
(4) If an
					 employee normally would be required to work overtime, but is unable to do so
					 because of a CFRA-qualifying reason that limits the employee's ability to work
					 overtime, the hours that the employee would have been required to work may be
					 counted against the employee's CFRA entitlement. In such a case, the employee
					 is using intermittent or reduced schedule leave. For example, if an employee
					 normally would be required to work 48 hours in a particular week, but due to a
					 serious health condition the employee works 40 hours that week, the employee
					 would utilize eight hours of CFRA-protected leave out of the 48-hour workweek.
					 Voluntary overtime hours that an employee does not work due to a serious health
					 condition shall not be counted against the employee's CFRA leave
					 entitlement.
(5) If an employer has
					 made a permanent or long-term change in the employee's schedule (for reasons
					 other than CFRA, and prior to the employee notice of need for CFRA leave), the
					 hours worked under the new schedule are to be used for making this
					 calculation.