California Expands Employee Leave Entitlements…Again

California has long had the reputation of being the most employee-friendly state in the country, having rigorous time limits on employee work hours and constantly providing and expanding employee leave entitlements. Well, California is at it again, with recent enactments of new laws expanding employee leave rights in many directions. Three new leave benefits in California will be entitled to employees starting January 1, 2025.  

Three New California Employee Leave Benefits:

• Paid Family Leave. California Paid Family Leave is a state-run program providing employees with partial wage replacement benefits for up to 8 weeks in any 12-month period to take time off to care for certain seriously ill or injured family members; to bond with a minor child within one year of the child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement; or to participate in qualifying exigencies related to the active military duty or call to active military duty of covered family members.

Currently, employers can require employees to take up to 2 weeks of accrued vacation before initially accessing Paid Family Leave benefits. However, as of January 1, this employer-friendly requirement no longer applies, which may result in workers returning from extended Paid Family Leave with accrued vacation time still available under company policy. 

• Leave for Qualifying Acts of Violence. California enacted laws amending its state-wide paid sick leave law (Healthy Workplace Healthy Families Act of 2014) and unpaid leave for victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking. The amendments expanded the list of crimes for which employees can take these leaves include “qualified acts of violence” and allows employees to also take time off to help family members who are victims of this type of violence. A qualified act of violence includes any of the following, whether anyone is arrested for, prosecuted for, or convicted of committing a crime:  
  • Domestic violence  
  • Sexual assault 
  • Stalking 
  • An act, conduct, or pattern of conduct that includes: (1) an individual causing bodily injury or death to another; (2) an individual exhibiting, drawing, brandishing, or using a firearm or other dangerous weapon, regarding another; and (3) an individual using or making a reasonably perceived or actual threat of using force against another to cause physical injury or death.   

• Paid Sick Leave for Agricultural Employees. California revised its Paid Sick Leave law to require employers to grant leave to agricultural employees who work outside and request time off to avoid smoke, heat, or flooding caused by a local or state emergency, including sick days needed for preventive care due to these conditions.^[1]  

An “agricultural employee” means a person employed in: (1) an agricultural occupation, as defined in Industrial Welfare Commission (“IWC”) Wage Order No. 14; (2) an industry preparing agricultural products for the market on the farm, as defined in IWC Wage Order No. 13; or (3) an industry handling product after harvest, as defined in IWC Wage Order No. 8.  

California employers should review these new laws and update their policies as needed. Additionally, employers should remember that these are not the only new employee time off entitlements or employment laws they will have to contend with starting in 2025. As employer legal obligations in the state continue to expand and become more complex, it’s important to implement comprehensive workforce solutions such as workforce absence software and workforce compliance software to ensure adherence to regulations. Failing to do so could lead to costly noncompliance mistakes. As 2025 approaches, employers should not hesitate to contact legal counsel if they have questions or concerns about California law. 

^{[1]The new law states the revision regarding agricultural employees isn’t a change in the law but clarifies existing law to the extent sick days are necessary for an employee’s preventive care.}