An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 8 – Leaves And Absences

2. CFRA The CFRA and the FMLA are identical 1281 with the following exceptions:

 The CFRA provides that employees on family care leave are entitled to participate in employee benefit plans such as life, short-term or long-term disability or accident insurance, retirement and pension plans, and supplemental unemployment benefit plans to the same extent and under the same conditions as would apply to employees on any other unpaid leave granted by the school taken for any purpose other than family or medical care leave. 1282  The FMLA regulations do not require a school to pay for non-health benefits for employees on FMLA leave even if such benefits are paid by the school for employees are other unpaid leaves. However, if a school pays for non-health benefits for employees on unpaid leave, the school must continue to pay for those benefits while on CFRA leave. If a school has no policy, practice, or collective bargaining agreement that requires or authorizes it to pay for these benefits, it need not do so. a. Obligation To Pay For Health Insurance When An Employee Is On Pregnancy Disability Leave, FMLA Leave, And CFRA Leave The FMLA, but not the CFRA, provides that pregnancy and related medical conditions are a serious health condition. In most instances, an employee who is disabled due to pregnancy will use her PDL concurrently with her FMLA leave. The employee is entitled to the maintenance of health benefits during FMLA and PDL. After 12 weeks, a pregnant employee’s FMLA leave would expire. At that point, the employee may still be eligible for another five and one-third weeks of pregnancy disability leave (up to 17 1/3 weeks total). If, at this point, the baby is born, she could then request CFRA leave to bond with her newborn. This is so whether or not she continues to be disabled by the pregnancy. Her CFRA leave is due to the birth of the child. She would be entitled to receive health coverage during the entire period she is on FMLA, PDL, and CFRA leave. The CFRA regulations provide that if an employee has utilized four months of pregnancy disability leave prior to the birth of her child, and her doctor determines that a continuation of the leave is medically necessary, a school may, but is not required to, allow an eligible employee to use CFRA leave prior to the birth of her child. 1283 b. Overlap Of The Two Acts Except for the distinction with pregnancy disability leave, the Acts do not conflict. The additional provisions provided by the CFRA are additional rights and obligations that do not conflict with the FMLA. Thus, they should be followed.

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 295