Insight & Commentary on California Workplace Law Issues & Developments
San Francisco has finalized amendments to the city’s Paid Parental Leave Ordinance. The most significant change: employees will now qualify for employer-paid parental leave benefits after just 90 days of employment, down from the prior 180-day requirement.
Who Is Covered?
The ordinance applies to employers who regularly employ 20 or more employees anywhere in…
As the situation in the Middle East progresses, and National Guard and Reservists are called to serve, employers will likely have employees who require leave of absence to fulfill their obligations to the military. While under federal law, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) guarantees the rights of military service members to…
Recently, California’s Governor signed Senate Bill (SB) 590, which expands eligibility for benefits under the state paid family leave program to include individuals who take time off to care for a seriously ill designated person.
In 2022, the state passed Assembly Bill (AB) 1041, which allowed employees to take leave to care for…
After vetoing a similar bill last year, on September 30, 2022, California Governor Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 951, which increases wage replacement rates for lower wage earners under the state Paid Family Leave program (PFL) and State Disability Insurance (SDI) programs.
Starting in 2025, workers who earn 70 percent or less than the…
California’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) program, which is administered by the Employment Development Department (EDD) provides eligible employees with up to 8 weeks of wage replacement benefits when an employee is off work for certain qualifying reasons.
Businesses with employees using PFL may have increased costs such as cross-training existing staff and hiring and…
The California Employment Development Department (EDD) has released the Voluntary Plan Employee Contribution and Benefit Rates for 2022.
Employers with employees located in California are generally required to withhold and send state disability contributions to the EDD. The 2022 rates are as follows:
| “Employee Contribution Rate” | 1.10% |
| “Taxable Wage Ceiling” (per employee per year) |
…
Recently, the Biden administration announced plans for a federal paid family leave program – something that has been available to California employees for over a decade.
California’s Paid Family Leave (“PFL”) program, which is administered by the California Employment Development Department (“EDD”), provides eligible employees with up to 8 weeks of wage replacement benefits when…
The California Employment Development Department (EDD) has released the Voluntary Plan Employee Contribution and Benefit Rates for 2021.
Employers are required to withhold and send state disability contributions to the EDD. The 2021 rates are as follows:
| Employee Contribution Rate | 1.2% |
| Taxable Wage Ceiling (per employee per year) | $128,298.00 |
| Maximum Contribution (per employee per |
…
Governor Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2399 on September 30, 2020, which extended the definitions for Paid Family Leave under Sections 3302 and 3307 of the Unemployment Insurance Code to include additional coverage for active military members and their families. The existing state Paid Family Leave program provided wage replacement benefits to workers who take time…
Before the COVID-19 crisis, there were limited paid leave entitlements in California for employees requiring time off to deal with childcare and school closures. California Labor Code 230.8 required that employers of 25 or more employees working at the same location were required to provide employees with up to 40 hours of unpaid leave within…
