California Paid Family Leave Policy

Purpose/Objective

Under California state law, [Company Name] is required to deduct a certain amount from employee pay to fund California's Paid Family Leave (PFL) program, which is administered by the California Employment Development Department (EDD). PFL is not a "leave" program, and it does not provide employees with leave beyond what is provided in the company's policies. Instead, PFL is a disability benefits program that provides eligible employees with compensation for lost wages, for up to eight weeks in a 12-month period when employees need to take time off work to care for a seriously ill spouse, domestic partner, child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild or sibling or to bond with a new child. Benefits are also available to participate in a qualifying event resulting from a spouse, registered domestic partner, parent, or child's military deployment to a foreign country. For information concerning these benefits, employees should contact the EDD.

Eligibility

Employees who need to take time off work may be eligible for PFL benefits:

• To care for a seriously ill spouse, domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild or sibling or to bond with a new child within the first year after birth or placement of the child with the employee, or
• To participate in a qualifying event resulting from a spouse, registered domestic partner, parent, or child's military deployment to a foreign country,

According to the EDD, employees who meet the following criteria may be eligible for PFL benefits:

• The employee must have lost wages because of the need to take time off work for a qualifying reason.
• The employee must have earned at least $300 in any calendar quarter from which California State Disability Insurance (SDI) deductions were withheld during the base period.
• The employee must submit completed claim forms to the EDD within 41 days of the date of leave (for copies of the appropriate forms, go to Paid Family Leave (PFL)—Forms and Publications).

A serious health condition means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition of a patient that involves inpatient care in a hospital, hospice or residential medical care facility or at home. This includes any period of incapacity (e.g., inability to work, attend school or perform other regular daily activities) or any subsequent treatment in connection with such inpatient care, or continuing treatment by a physician or practitioner. Unless complications arise, cosmetic treatments, the common cold, influenza, earaches, upset stomach, minor ulcers and headaches other than migraine are examples of conditions that do not meet the definition of a serious health condition for purposes of PFL.

For more information regarding eligibility for PFL benefits, call the EDD at (877) 238-4373, or visit the PFL website.

[Optional: The company may require employees to use up to two weeks of accrued [paid time off/vacation] leave before receiving PFL benefits.]

Employees may not be eligible for PFL benefits if they are receiving workers' compensation benefits, unemployment insurance benefits or state disability benefits.

Procedures

Employees who need to take time off work for a qualifying reason should contact [human resources/other job title] as soon as practicable, as required under the company's [paid time off/attendance] policy.

To apply for PFL, eligible employees should contact the EDD at (877) 238-4373 visit the PFL website.