California and Federal Leave Laws - Research Paper Example

Abstract Workers in the United States get leaves to stay at home and address their health matters as well as those of their family members. According to Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that President Clinton signed to become law in 1993, workers who go on leave do not get their pay for that period but this Law secures their jobs. Most of people do not apply for a family leave to avoid deductions from their salary. Since federal rules are discriminative, California State came up with its state law on employee leave to enhance the Federal FMLA and to address the leave issues that the state felt were left out. Some of these laws do not offer protection for the jobs but one can apply for a leave in conjunction with FMLA. The present paper describes different types and difference between California and Federal leave laws. Introduction President Clinton signed the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) into law in 1993 (Heyman, 2000). This allowed eligible and covered employees who had a minimum of 1250 hours of work to be given up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave from their place of work to deal with health of their family members, their own health as well as spending time the new born child (Heyman , 2000). This Act protects employees and hence they do not lose jobs after resuming their work. According to records, many Americans need to take a leave for medical or family reasons but most of they do not take leave because they are could lose their jobs. Many states have identified the disadvantages of this present law and the unfavorable impact it is causing on both the employers and the employees. Because of this, twenty-eight states such as New York, California, New Jersey among many other have introduced paid leave bills. This enables workers to get payment from a given period when they are on leave (Heyman, 2000). Introduction of SB 1661 legislation in California State in February in 2002 enhanced the existing States Disability Insurance (SDI) system. The present SDI system is already providing partial paid family and medical leave. They also replace 55 to 60 percent of the wage of the employees when they take a leave to recover from serious illness such as pregnancy and disabilities that come because of giving birth. Further, use of SB 1661 extends this medical and family leave insurance system to enable employees replace 50-60 percent of their wages when they take a leave up to 12 weeks to take care of the newborn or a family member who is seriously sick or after adopting a new baby (Heyman, 2000). The passage of flexible sick leave in California in 2001 allows the workers to use this leave to take care of their family members who are sick (Lisa, et al. 2008). Section 233 of the California labor code enables employers to use up to the amount of sick leave that accumulate during the period of six month that they use while caring for family members who are sick. This research paper analyzes different types of leaves laws as well as the differences that exist between California and federal leave laws. Types of leaves in the California State California Family Rights Act (CFRA) This act gives an extra twelve weeks to the employee, though it is not paid leave. Nevertheless, this act protects the job of the mother and allows the mother to bond with the baby. This leave overlies with FMLA. It is operational immediately after the doctor clears the mother to go back to work, which is normally between six to eight weeks after conceiving. The worker does not get protection of the job for period of 24 weeks (Lisa, et al, 2008). One can get a few weeks less than the expected job protection and this depends on how long it takes before the child is born, the method of delivery among other many factors. California Paid Family Leave (CAPFL) Mothers, fathers and parents who adopt children are the ones who get this type of leave. The employees earn 55% of their salary for six weeks and they get highest cap. Their work does not get protection but they can apply for this leave in together with CFRA or FMLA Acts (Heyman, 2000). Catastrophic leave The workers who have used up all their leave credits may miss out because of prolonged illness or injury and hence may apply for catastrophic leave. This leaves helps employees who are going through financial constraints because of catastrophic injury or sickness or natural disasters by giving contribution and transfer of appropriate leave credits from other workers. The employees who do not have representatives can get donations from the represented or non-represented workers (Heyman, 2000). The total leave credit does not go beyond three months. However, Ruhm (1998) explains that the Department of General Service can approve an additional three month of the catastrophic leave for a period of not more than three month for anyone who has a devastating illness or injury Bereavement leave This is a 3-day leave an employee gets after the death of a family member or another person who resides in the neighborhood of the employee. For rank-and-file employees, the provisions of the contract have limited this leave for death of an extended family member to 3 days yearly (Lisa, et al, 2008). Jury duty Employees who go out for jury duty get a leave during the duration of the jury service. Workers do not get juror pay for those duties but t it is acceptable for them to keep their mileage payments (Heyman, 2000). Transferring leave credit to other employees Employees can transfer leave credits to other employees apart from sick leave, in situation where the sickness or injury incapacitates the employee or family member creating financial hardship (Lisa, et al, 2008). Lisa, et al. (2008) adds that these transfers take place in situations of natural disasters. Also, leave credits can be transferred between family members when they experience serious medical conditions to enable them take care of an eligible family member undergoing a serious medical condition. In such situations, the employee does not need to suffer financial hardship to be eligible (Ruhm, 1998). Vacation leave The employees who go for annual leave do not get a separate vacation credit. Rank-and-file employees accumulate this credit from seven to fifteen hours monthly and this depends on the bargaining unit and the length of the service (Heyman, 2000). On the other hand, supervisors and managers accumulate 7-16 monthly hours depending on the length of the service. However, one can carry up to 640 hours of the vacation that was not used to the following year (Ruhm, 1998). Sick leave As noted by Heyman (2000) workers who get annual leave do not benefit from a separate sick leave. Fulltime workers normally accumulate eight hours per month after completing their first month at their place of work. The worker can take the sick leave that he does not use in every year Personal leave program Most of full-time and permanent employees are entitled to get an extra day of leave credit monthly in which a five percent reduction in their pay accompanies it. This voluntary personal leave program assists workers who want to accumulate extra time off and helps the departments to lower the costs of payroll because the employer uses few funds to pay the workers (Ruhm, 1998). Military caregiver leave Employees get twenty-six weeks of unpaid and job protection yearly. This applies when one is caring for a family service member who has a serious injury or sickness received during the time of executing the mandate. The service member must be a currently working as a reservist or guard or military or a temporary disability retirement. This leave does not cover former members or those who have permanent disability. To benefit, one has to be a parent, child, spouse or next of kin of the service member. It does not cover parents-in-law. The 26 weeks are not in addition to the 12 weeks that one can receive to cure the disease (Ruhm, 1998). Pregnancy disability leave Under the family medical leave act, a female worker who is not able to carry out her duties as required at the place of work due to pregnancy, child birth or illness is given up to four months of unpaid leave. This is to enable her deal with the problem away from work. At the end of pregnancy disability, the worker can apply for another unpaid leave of up to 12 weeks to bond with her newborn baby. The California family rights act provides this. The employee gets health benefits from the state for the combined leave (Lisa, et al, 2008). Types of federal leave laws Annual leave Full time employees or those who have permanent job get annual leave as in the following forms: Workers who have less than ten years as workers of the State get 5 hours of annual leave in every pay period with a maximum leave balance of 240 hours (Lisa, et al, 2008). Employees who have worked in the State for over ten years get 6 hours of yearly leave in each period of pay with a maximum annual balance of 288 hours. Lastly, workers who have worked for more than 15 years earn 7 hours of the yearly leave with a maximum annual leave balance of 336 hours. Workers can accumulate more annual leave than their allowed up to October 31 of any given year (Ruhm, 1998). Leave for emergency state Civil air patrol or fly counter-narcotics certifies some staffs as emergency service experts. These workers may get a leave of absence from their particular duties. This leave does not last for more than 15 working days in any state financial year (Ruhm, 1998). Differences between Federal and California leave laws For pregnant women, the Family Medical Leave Act, in the federal Act offers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a period of one year. This leave protects the job of the employer and it is open for both fathers and mothers. On the other hand, in California there is the California Pregnancy Disability Leave that applies to those who are in state disability insurance in California. It is a state disability plan that takes a period of four month. The employee is paid 55% of the salary and maximum weekly benefits. There is no job protection but the employee takes a leave that a payment in combination with FMLA takes place. The doctor determines when the patient is disabled and when the doctor clears clear her to report to work (Ruhm, 1998). FMLA covers pregnancy as a serious health condition and it does not change when new regulations come in place. On the other hand, in California CFRA does not cove pregnancy as serious health condition. Instead, pregnant employees have a pregnancy disability leave of up to four month. The employer should have five or more employees and no specific time is required to the employee (Heyman, 2000). In Federal laws, in cases where the employee take FMLA leave in less than one week, then time goes against the benefits of FMLA the employee is supposed to work on the holiday day. In California, when the CFRA leave contains the holiday then the whole week accounts for CFRA leave. If for any reason, the business activity of the employee ceases and the employee does not report to work for one week or more then this implies he/she will not get the SFRA benefits (Heyman, 2000). Under the federal laws, when the employee places on notice the reason for a leave, the employer must respond to the employee with the notice that lists the rights and responsibilities if the leave applied for qualify for FMLA. The employer responds to the employee within five business days after making the request. CFRA requires that the employee notifies the employer and waits for a response within ten days. The laws do not require the employer to give the reason for rejecting the CFRA leave (Lisa, et al, 2008). The employer requires the employee to hand over a fitness duty statement in every 30 days if the employee uses intermittent leave. The employer cannot fire the employee who is waiting for fitness certification. The regulations of CFRA are silent about fitness for duty statement for a medical leave that is intermittent (Heyman, 2000). Conclusion In conclusion, the passing of FMLA act has enabled many workers in the United States to take leaves to attend to their own health matters or those of their relatives. Under this Act, most the Americans do not take the leave because they will not receive their salary for this period. This law had a negative impact on both the employee and the employer, which forced California and other states to come up with legislations that enhance paid family leave. The paid family leave greatly benefits the spouses, children and the old. There are different types of leaves that cover the employees during types of difficulties such as sickness and disasters. Some of California Acts vary from those of the federal and hence it is advisable for one to use both when applying for a leave. References: Employment Development Department (EDD) of the State of California: Disability Insurance Weekly Benefit Chart Sacramento: Retrieved on 06/08/2011, from: Heyman J., (2000): The Widening Gap: Why American Families Are In Jeopardy and What Can Be Done About It: New York. Lisa C. & et al, (2008): Access to and Use of Paid Sick Leave among Low-Income Families with Children: Pediatrics. Ruhm C., (1998): The Economic Consequences of Parental Leave Mandates. Lessons From Europe: Quarterly Journal of Economics. Read More