An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 8 – Leaves And Absences

An employee failing to apply for reemployment within the appropriate period does not automatically forfeit his or her rights, but shall be subject to the conduct rules, established policy, and general practices of the employer pertaining to absences from scheduled work. 1402 Under California law, if the position has been abolished or otherwise has ceased to exist, the employee shall be reinstated in a position of like seniority, status and pay if such a position exists, or to a comparable vacant position for which the employee is qualified. 1403 LCW Practice Advisor

California’s Military & Veterans Code does not specify what constitutes a like or comparable position. If this situation arises, the school should take a common sense and reasonable approach in finding a comparable position.

The only conditions that justify not reinstating an employee are:

 The school’s circumstances have so changed as to make such reemployment impossible or unreasonable;  Reemployment of the person would impose an undue hardship on the school; or  The position exists for a brief, nonrecurring period and there is no reasonable expectation that such employment will continue indefinitely or for a significant period. 1404 The school has the burden of proving such conditions exist which would justify not reemploying the returning employee. D. C IVIL A IR P ATROL L EAVE The Civil Air Patrol Employment Protection Act requires California employers with 15 or more employees to permit employees who have been employed 90 or more days to take a leave of absence to respond to an emergency operational mission of the California Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. 1405 An employee may take unpaid leave of a total of 10 days per calendar year to respond to emergency operational missions of the Civil Air Patrol. Leave for a single emergency operational mission shall not exceed 3 days, unless an extension is authorized by the governmental entity in charge of the emergency operational mission, and approved by the employer. 1406 An employee is required to give the employer as much notice as possible of the intended dates upon which the Civil Air Patrol leave will begin and end. 1407 An employer may require certification for the need for leave. 1408 An employee on Civil Air Patrol leave is not required to exhaust accrued leaves. 1409 E. C ALIFORNIA M ILITARY F AMILY L EAVE A CT The California Military Family Leave Act requires employers with 25 or more employees to provide up to 10 days of unpaid leave to eligible employees whose spouse or registered domestic partner is a member of the Armed Forces of the United States, including the National Guard or

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 318