Human Resources

The Family and Medical Leave Act is a Federal law that entitles eligible employees to take unpaid, job protected leave for specified qualifying events for up to 12 weeks in a 12 month period.

A qualifying event is any one of the following:

• A serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential functions of his or her job;
• The birth of a child and to care for the newborn child within one year of birth;
• The placement with the employee of a child for adoption or foster care and to care for the newly placed child within one year of placement;
• To care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition;
• Any qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that the employee’s spouse, son, daughter, or parent is a covered military member on "covered active duty";
• To care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness if the eligible employee is the service member’s spouse, son, daughter, parent, or next of kin.*

*Eligible employees under this qualifying event are entitled to up to twenty-six (26) workweeks of leave during a single 12-month period.

To be eligible for FMLA, you must meet all of the following criteria:

• Be either a full-time or part-time permanent employee with the County;
• Have 12 months of service with the County;
• Have worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12-month period before the date the leave begins

If you are an eligible employee, you are entitled to up to 12 weeks of FMLA leave for qualifying family and medical reasons during a 12-month period.

No. However, you may use your accrued leave balances or coordinate with State Disability Insurance (SDI) as described in the County’s FMLA policy.

The California Family Rights Act is a State law that entitles eligible employees the same unpaid, benefit- protected and job-protected leave for specified qualifying events as FMLA. When an employee is on medical leave due to their own pregnancy (PDL), CFRA allows them to take an additional 12 weeks of unpaid leave for the purposes of bonding with the child.*
 
*CFRA for bonding must be taken within 12 months of the child’s birth or date of placement if adoption/foster care. 

Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) is a State law that entitles eligible employees up to four months (17 1/3 weeks) of unpaid, benefit-protected and job-protected leave for pregnancy-related disability. There is no minimum service requirement for eligibility.

Typically when taking leave for a qualifying event, FMLA and CFRA run concurrently, except when taking leave for a pregnancy disability, adoption and/or placement of a foster child, CFRA begins after PDL/FMLA.*

*FMLA runs concurrently with PDL.
**For bonding unrelated to PDL, FMLA and CFRA run concurrently.

If you have available leave balances, you will be required to code your balances while on leave. If your leave qualifies, you may receive Short Term Disability (SDI) to cover a portion of your regular pay. You and your doctor must work with EDD to apply. More information can be found here.

While on leave, your timecard will be coded with the number of hours per week in accordance with what you have requested on your leave of absence form. It is very important that if you are coordinating with SDI that you DO NOT code more than your allocated hours per week. Doing so could results in an overpayment that you would owe back to EDD.

When you are on an FMLA, PDL or CFRA protected leave, your benefits are protected. You will continue to receive your negotiated cafeteria and any out-of-pocket costs will be deducted from your paycheck. If your paycheck is not enough time to cover the out-of-pocket costs of your benefits, you will receive a bill to pay the balance owed. If you normally receive a cafeteria cash out, this will continue while on protected leave.

Once all protected leave is exhausted, you must code a minimum of 20 hours a week of balances (sick, vacation, personal, administrative) to maintain your benefits. If you have exhausted all leave and are coding LWOP, you will not receive your negotiated cafeteria and will be billed for the entire cost of your benefits.

Yes. While on FMLA/CFRA/PDL, your health insurance will continue under the same terms and conditions as if you had not taken leave.*

*The employee is required to pay any out-of-pocket expenses under their current plan while on leave.

You should request a leave of absence as soon as you know you are going to be away from work for more than five (5) consecutive days due to a qualifying event.

View the Leave of Absence Request Process for Employees and contact your Payroll Coordinator. They will help guide you through the leave request process.

You must provide your department with a Request for Family Medical Leave and Medical Certification Form 30 days prior to your leave date.

Yes. The request process for Pregnancy Disability Leave is the same for FMLA and CFRA. Note that PDL and FMLA run concurrently. Contact your payroll coordinator for more information.

A 12-month period is measured backward from the date you first go out on FMLA.

No. The County will designate your leave as FMLA/CFRA/PDL for any and all qualifying events. 

You MUST provide your department payroll coordinator with a doctor’s Return to Work note that says you are clear to return to work without restrictions. If you return to work without a doctor’s note, you will be asked to leave until the department has received your doctor’s note clearing you to return to work.

You MUST provide your department payroll coordinator with a doctor’s Return to Work note that says you are clear to return to work with restrictions. The doctor’s note must indicate what the restrictions are. Contact your department payroll coordinator immediately if you know you are going to return to work with restrictions. An Interactive Process meeting will be required upon your return to discuss the impact your restrictions will have on your work.

You will be asked to complete a Leave of Absence Extension Form. You must also provide documentation from your doctor with your new return to work date. Both of these forms should be sent directly to your department's payroll coordinator.

In cases where CFRA is used for bonding, the 12 weeks is split between the two employees. For FMLA, the 12 weeks may be split depending on the nature of the qualifying event. Contact your payroll coordinator for more information.

Contact your Payroll Coordinator.