Legal Question in Medical Leave in California

Re: Sick family: medical leave

Your friend sounds like a good person. The law allows her to take 12 weeks of paid and/or unpaid leave in one year should she have worked one full year prior and up to 1250 hours in that year for an employer who has 50 or more employees. However, the employer can force her to use up her available sick and vacation time. If she does not have any other paid time available, the employer does not have to offer paid time off. She will have to look to her employee handbook and benefits to see if there is anything else available.

If she has any further questions she can contact our office or an attorney in her area.

I wish her and her family the best of luck.

Re: Sick family: medical leave

There is a great deal of information missing to enable me to provide more specific, helpful information.

Generally, employees who are qualified for FMLA/CFRA leave must be permitted to take time off to care for seriously ill parents, without interference from the employer. The employee may be allowed to exhaust all of their accrued sick and vacation time, but beyond that, they do not have to be paid by the employer.

The employer can ask the employee to provide advance notice of the need for time off, when possible, so they can make approriate arrangements. But if they are making your girlfriend take an extended leave for punitive reasons, they make be violating her rights.

She should consult with an experienced employment law attorney in your area to better determine what she can or cannot do.

Re: Sick family: medical leave

She can take up to the 12 weeks unpaid leave the law allows, as long as she qualifies, and she can arguably take it in small increments with reasonable notice. If she has already exhausted it, there is no protection from termination. The company can't harass her by demanding she take leave she doesn't want. If that is the case, have her contact me to discuss her rights and remedies.