California regulators have approved changes to the rules implementing the California Family Rights Act ("CFRA").
CFRA (California's more protective version of FMLA) protects employees' rights to take time off from work because of the birth or adoption of a child, to care for a parent, spouse, or child with a serious health condition, or because of the employee's own serious health condition.
The purpose of these amendments is to further supplement the existing regulations (primarily by clarifying confusing rules) and adopt and modify some of the parallel FMLA regulations.
These amendments include substantive changes, such as
- establishing procedures for the payment of group health benefit premiums during CFRA leave,
- detailing how employers can violate the CFRA by interfering with employee rights under the law, and
- clarifying that same-sex spouses are covered under the CFRA.
