California Family Rights Act Reform Essential for COVID Recovery

In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, California State Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson introduced SB 1383 to dramatically expand the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), which was originally enacted in 1993. Tom Sheehy, Principal and Founder of Sheehy Strategy Group, notes that prior to being signed into law, SB 1383 was one of the most heavily lobbied bills of 2020, a fact that is unsurprising in a state famous for its rigid labor laws.

Formerly, CFRA applied to companies with 50 or more employees and required employers to give their workers up to 12 weeks of protected leave to take care of a child or spouse. However, with the enactment of SB 1383, CFRA has now been expanded to include employers in California with only five or more employees, and the protected leave includes additional family members such as parents, grandparents, siblings, parents-in-law, etc.

Sheehy says one of many issues with CFRA is that its rigidity allows employees to go to Superior Court, rather than requiring them to work through an administrative cure. Aggrieved employees can sue their employers for compensatory damages if leave is not given or properly accounted for. This was less problematic when CFRA only applied to larger companies that typically have a dedicated human resources manager. However, it is an extreme administrative burden for smaller employers.

Ultimately, SB 1383 subjects businesses to rules that are nearly impossible to administer especially for very small firms, leaving them vulnerable to a new class of lawsuits. CFRA reform is a necessary part of the California economic recovery from COVID-19.

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