HR Practice Pointer: What Benefits Must an Employer Provide to an Employee on CFRA Leave?

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Published on Thursday, 08 December 2011 07:06

An employer covered by the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) is not required to pay an eligible employee during a CFRA leave, except when the employee elects, or the employer requires, the employee to use any accrued vacation time or other accumulated paid leave other than accrued sick leave. However, if CFRA leave is for the employee's own serious health condition, the employee may elect or the employer may require the employee to use any accrued vacation time or other accumulated paid leave, including any accrued sick leave. Additionally, the employee may elect to use accrued sick leave for any other reason mutually agreed to by the employer. If the employer provides health benefits under any group health plan, the employer has an obligation to continue providing such benefits during an employee's CFRA leave. This obligation commences on the date leave first begins and continues for the duration of the leave(s), up to a maximum of 12 work weeks in a 12-month period. The employee can be required to make his or her share of the premium contribution. During CFRA leave, the employee is entitled to accrual of seniority and to participate in employee benefit plans, including life, short-term or long-term disability or accident insurance, pension and retirement plans, and supplemental unemployment benefit plans to the same extent and under the same conditions as would apply to any other leave granted by the employer for any reason other than CFRA leave. Read More.

Employers Must Continue Health Benefits For Employees On Pregnancy Disability Leave

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Published on Monday, 10 October 2011 03:30

California Governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law SB 299 (effective as of January 1, 2012), which requires California employers to continue group health insurance benefits for employees on pregnancy disability leave for up to four months. Under the law prior to SB 299, California employers with five or more full-time or part-employees were required to provide up to four months of leave pregnancy disability leave. However, employers were not required to provide health insurance benefits for an employee on pregnancy disability leave unless the employee was also eligible for leave pursuant to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the employer was covered by the FMLA, in which case the employer was required to provide continuation of health benefits for 12 weeks. Now that SB 299 is in effect, employers with five or more employees must provide continuation of group health benefits for employees disabled by pregnancy for four months, even if the employer is not covered by the FMLA. In pertinent part, the legislation provides that it shall be unlawful “For an employer to refuse to maintain and pay for coverage for an eligible female employee who takes leave pursuant to paragraph (1) 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 four months over the course of a 12-month period, commencing on the date the leave taken under paragraph (1) begins, at the level and under the conditions that coverage would have been provided if the employee had continued in employment continuously for the duration of the leave. Nothing in this paragraph shall preclude an employer from maintaining and paying for coverage under a group health plan beyond four months.” As specified in the legislation, employers may require employees to continue paying their portion of the group health insurance premium. SB 299 also specifies that the “employee shall be entitled to utilize any accrued vacation leave during this period of time.” California employers should review their employee handbooks and any other policies to make sure they are compliant with the new law by January 1, 2012.  Read More.

Reinstatement To Comparable Position Not Required After More Than 12 Weeks Of CFRA Leave

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Published on Tuesday, 23 August 2011 20:12

Katrina Rogers worked for the County of Los Angeles (LA County). She had been employed with LA County for 36 years in various positions, most recently as a personnel officer. In April of 2006, Ms. Rogers took a medical leave pursuant to the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) due to work-related stress. The CFRA entitles eligible employees to take up to 12 unpaid workweeks in a 12-month period for family care and medical leave to care for their children, parents, or spouses, or to recover from their own serious health condition. CFRA also guarantees that taking such leave will not result in a loss of job security or other adverse employment actions. Further, upon an employee’s timely return from CFRA leave, an employer must generally restore the employee to the same or a comparable position. In this case, Ms. Rogers took 19 weeks of leave. However, upon her return she was not reinstated to her former position due to the fact that during her medical leave, LA Country reorganized their executive department which resulted in Ms. Rogers’ being transferred to another position and department, specifically the Internal Service Department (ISD). LA County stated that the reorganization was due to business needs. Thus, when Ms. Rogers returned to work, she received written notification of the transfer. Ms. Rogers became “visibly upset” when she learned of the transfer as she considered it a demotion because she would no longer be supervising or managing. She subsequently sued LA County pursuant to the CFRA alleging that LA County (1) interfered with her CFRA rights by transferring her to a noncomparable position, and (2) retaliating against her for exercising her right to take CFRA leave. A jury awarded her damages in the amount of $356,000, and LA County appealed. The appellate court reversed holding that Rogers was not entitled to reinstatement when she failed to return to work at the end of her 12-week protected CFRA leave. “CFRA’s reinstatement right only applies when an employee returns to work on or before the expiration of the 12-week protected leave.”  Employers should still exercise caution when making return-to-work/reinstatement decisions as they must still comply with other laws regarding medical leave such as the Fair Employment and Housing Act/Americans with Disabilities Act. 

Understanding Pregnancy Discrimination in the Workplace

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Published on Monday, 16 May 2011 18:43

Pregnancy discrimination involves treating a woman unfavorably because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth. The law forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, such as leave and health insurance, and any other term or condition of employment. If a woman is temporarily unable to perform her job due to a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, the employer must treat the pregnant employee the same as any other temporarily disabled employee. For example, the employer may have to provide modified tasks, alternative assignments, disability leave or unpaid leave. It is also unlawful for someone in the workplace to harass a woman because of pregnancy, childbirth, or a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth. The law does not prohibit "simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that are not very serious," however, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the employee being fired or demoted). The person engaging in the harassing conduct might be the employee's supervisor, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or someone who is not an employee of the employer, such as a client or customer. Pregnant employees may also have additional rights under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)/California Family Rights Act (CFRA) if the employee is temporarily unable to perform her job due to pregnancy or for baby bonding time following the birth....

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