Cal. Gov. Code § 12945.6
Unlawful Practices, Generally
Redline — January 1, 2019 → current.View current text →
Current — January 1, 2023
As of January 1, 2019
(a) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to do any of the following:
(1) Refuse to allow an employee with more than 12 months of service with the employer, who has at least 1,250 hours of service with the employer during the previous 12-month period, and who works at a worksite in which the employer employs at least 20 employees within 75 miles, upon request, to take up to 12 weeks of parental leave to bond with a new child within one year of the child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement. If, on or before the commencement of this parental leave, the employer does not provide a guarantee of employment in the same or a comparable position upon the termination of the leave, the employer shall be deemed to have refused to allow the leave. The employee shall be entitled to utilize accrued vacation pay, paid sick time, other accrued paid time off, or other paid or unpaid time off negotiated with the employer, during the period of parental leave.
(2) Refuse to maintain and pay for coverage for an eligible employee who takes parental leave pursuant to this section under a group health plan, as defined in Section 5000(b)(1) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, for the duration of the leave, not to exceed 12 weeks over the course of a 12-month period, commencing on the date that the parental leave commences, at the level and under the conditions that coverage would have been provided if the employee had continued to work in his or her position for the duration of the leave.
(b) An employee is entitled to take, in addition to the leave provided pursuant to this section, leave provided pursuant to Section 12945 if the employee is otherwise qualified for that leave.
(c) This section shall not apply to an employee who is subject to both Section 12945.2 and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.
(d) An employer may recover the premium that the employer paid as required by this section for maintaining coverage for the employee under the group health plan, if both of the following conditions occur:
(1) The employee fails to return from leave after the period of leave to which the employee is entitled has expired.
(2) The failure of the employee to return from leave is for a reason other than the continuation, recurrence, or onset of a serious health condition or other circumstances beyond the control of the employee.
(e) In any case in which both parents entitled to leave under subdivision (a) are employed by the same employer, the employer is not required to grant leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care of a child that would allow the parents parental leave totaling more than the amount specified in subdivision (a). The employer may, but is not required to, grant simultaneous leave to both of these employees.
(f) Parental leave taken pursuant to this section shall run concurrently to parental leave taken as described in Sections 44977.5, 45196.1, 87780.1, and 88196.1 of the Education Code.
(a) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:
(1) (A) “Assisted reproduction” means a method of achieving a pregnancy through an artificial insemination or an embryo transfer and includes gamete and embryo donation.
(B) “Assisted reproduction” does not include any pregnancy achieved through sexual intercourse.
(2) “Employee” means a person employed by the employer for at least 30 days prior to the commencement of the leave.
(3) “Employer” means either of the following:
(A) A person who employs five or more persons to perform services for a wage or salary.
(B) The state and any political or civil subdivision of the state, including, but not limited to, cities and counties.
(4) “Failed adoption” means the dissolution or breach of an adoption agreement with the birth mother or legal guardian, or an adoption that is not finalized because it is contested by another party. This event applies to a person who would have been a parent of the adoptee if the adoption had been completed.
(5) “Failed surrogacy” means the dissolution or breach of a surrogacy agreement, or a failed embryo transfer to the surrogate. This event applies to a person who would have been a parent of a child born as a result of the surrogacy.
(6) “Miscarriage” means a miscarriage by a person, by the person’s current spouse or domestic partner, or by another individual if the person would have been a parent of a child born as a result of the pregnancy.
(7) “Reproductive loss event” means the day or, for a multiple-day event, the final day of a failed adoption, failed surrogacy, miscarriage, stillbirth, or an unsuccessful assisted reproduction.
(8) “Reproductive loss leave” means the leave provided by subdivision (b).
(9) “Stillbirth” means a stillbirth resulting from a person’s pregnancy, the pregnancy of a person’s current spouse or domestic partner, or another individual, if the person would have been a parent of a child born as a result of the pregnancy that ended in stillbirth.
(10) “Unsuccessful assisted reproduction” means an unsuccessful round of intrauterine insemination or of an assisted reproductive technology procedure. This event applies to a person, the person’s current spouse or domestic partner, or another individual, if the person would have been a parent of a child born as a result of the pregnancy.
(b) (1) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to grant a request by any employee to take up to five days of reproductive loss leave following a reproductive loss event. If an employee experiences more than one reproductive loss event within a 12-month period, an employer shall not be obligated to grant a total amount of reproductive loss leave time in excess of 20 days within a 12-month period.
(2) The employer shall allow the days an employee takes for reproductive loss leave to be nonconsecutive.
(3) (A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), reproductive loss leave shall be completed within three months of the event entitling the employee to that leave under paragraph (1).
(B) Notwithstanding subparagraph (A), if, prior to or immediately following a reproductive loss event, an employee is on or chooses to go on leave from work pursuant to Section 12945, 12945.2, or any other leave entitlement under state or federal law, the employee shall complete their reproductive loss leave within three months of the end date of the other leave.
(4) (A) Reproductive loss leave shall be taken pursuant to any existing applicable leave policy of the employer.
(B) If there is no existing applicable leave policy, reproductive loss leave may be unpaid, except that an employee may use vacation, personal leave, accrued and available sick leave, or compensatory time off that is otherwise available to the employee.
(c) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to retaliate against an individual, including, but not limited to, refusing to hire, discharging, demoting, fining, suspending, expelling, or discriminating against, an individual because of either of the following: (1) An individual’s exercise of the right to reproductive loss leave. (2) An individual’s giving information or testimony as to their own reproductive loss leave, or another person’s reproductive loss leave, in an inquiry or proceeding related to rights guaranteed under this section.
(d) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, any right provided under this section.
(i) For purposes of this section, “employer” means either of the following:
(1) A person who directly employs 20 or more persons to perform services for a wage or salary.
(2) The state, and any political or civil subdivision of the state and cities.
(j) To the extent that state regulations interpreting the Moore-Brown-Roberti Family Rights Act, also known as the California Family Rights Act (Sections 12945.2 and 19702.3), are within the scope of, and not inconsistent with this section or with other state law, including the California Constitution, the council shall incorporate those regulations by reference to govern leave under this section.
(k) This section shall take effect January 1, 2020.
(e) The employer shall maintain the confidentiality of any employee requesting leave under this section. Any information provided to the employer pursuant to this section shall be maintained as confidential and shall not be disclosed except to internal personnel or counsel, as necessary, or as required by law.
(f) An employee’s right to reproductive loss leave shall be construed as a separate and distinct right from any right under this part.
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.