Written by a parent, not a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice.

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California program

Job protection and paid sick time (CFRA)

California leave that can protect your job while you care for family, at employers with at least five employees.

What it is

California leave that can protect your job while you care for family, at employers with at least five employees.

CFRA can keep your job and group health benefits in place during qualifying family-care leave. It reaches smaller employers than federal FMLA. Paid sick time has its own rules and needs a separate check.

Who can get it
  • HR checks the employer size, your hours and how much leave you have left.
  • Most California workers earn at least 40 hours of paid sick leave a year, one hour for every 30 worked, usable after 90 days on the job and for a child's care; payroll has the balance.
What you get
  • Up to 12 unpaid workweeks of protected leave in a 12-month period.
  • Continued group health benefits during qualifying leave.
  • Qualifying employees have a separate sick-leave minimum of 40 hours or five days, whichever is greater. Accrual and use rules apply.
If you decide to apply
  1. Ask HR or your leave office for the family-care leave forms and a written explanation of CFRA, FMLA and sick time.
  2. Have ready: your hire date, approximate hours worked in the last 12 months, employer headcount and the clinic’s medical certification.

800-884-1684 CRD intake · Official page ↗

What happens next
  • The written leave decision names whether CFRA, FMLA or both apply, the leave dates and which benefits continue.
  • When both laws cover the absence, the same time off counts toward both. A written refusal should explain which requirement was not met.
Good to know

CFRA requires 12 months with the employer and 1,250 hours worked in the previous 12 months. Paid Family Leave has separate pay rules.

What else to know
  • CFRA is unpaid. PFL and employer pay may overlap with protected leave under their own rules. Payroll can explain how each payment is treated.
  • The Civil Rights Department handles CFRA complaints at 800-884-1684.
Official sources
Ask your social worker

“Could CFRA or paid sick time let me care for my child while keeping my job and health benefits? What pay or limits should I expect? Is leave worth requesting, and could you help me check this with HR?”

Why I’m asking: I want to understand which leave rules could protect my job, health benefits and paid sick time.

More background and detailed requirements
Additional program information and published rules

Who does what

The three parts, side by side. The agency decides; nobody on this page does.

You

Tell HR in writing that you need leave to care for a seriously ill child. Ask for California and federal family-leave paperwork.

Your social worker

The social worker can give you a letter confirming the diagnosis and the expected care period for HR.

The care team

The oncologist completes the employer's medical certification form.

Who decides
The employer (HR), with the Civil Rights Department enforcing
Ask HR
“I need leave for my child's leukemia treatment. Can you check California and federal family leave, send the forms, and confirm job and health coverage protection in writing?”

How to apply

First step: Give HR written notice of the need for family-care leave and ask for the California family leave and federal family leave paperwork. CRD intake 800-884-1684 if the employer refuses.

  1. Give HR written notice and ask for the CFRA and FMLA determinations separately.
  2. File Paid Family Leave for pay.

Where it starts: Written leave request to HR

What to gather

  • Hire date and approximate hours in the last 12 months
  • The employer's headcount
  • The clinic's medical certification

How long: The employer answers the request. Leave can start when the certification is in.

What a yes looks like

A written leave designation naming California family leave (and federal family leave if it applies), the dates, and that health benefits continue.

What a no looks like, and the next move

A written refusal naming headcount, tenure or hours. Check the numbers, ask for paid sick leave, and call CRD.

Watch out

  • CFRA generally requires 12 months with the employer and 1,250 hours worked in the preceding 12 months. Paid sick leave has separate rules and an annual minimum of 40 hours or five days, whichever is greater, for qualifying employees. Payroll can confirm qualification, accrued balance, permitted use and any more generous employer or local policy.
  • Ask HR for the California family leave and federal family leave determinations in writing, separately. They run at the same time.
  • California family leave is unpaid. File Paid Family Leave for the money.

The numbers and the rules

The arcane layer, kept on purpose. Checked September 8, 2026.

What it is worth

Eligible employees can receive up to 12 workweeks of job-protected CFRA leave with continued group health benefits. Separate paid sick leave has an annual minimum of 40 hours or five days, whichever is greater, subject to qualification, accrual and use rules.

Legal protection: Job-protected family-care leave, 12 workweeks per 12 months · Group health benefits continued during the leave · Qualifying employees have a separate annual paid-sick-leave minimum of 40 hours or five days, whichever is greater. Care for a child can be a permitted use, subject to the available balance and applicable use rules.

What it costs the family: Unpaid leave. Pair with Paid Family Leave for pay.

The eligibility facts, as published

Employer min employees
5
Tenure months
12
Hours last 12 months
1250

Decisions this site cannot make: Employer coverage and employee eligibility · Medical certification

Expect friction on: Concurrency with FMLA · Written notice to HR

The trap: Assuming federal family leave's answer is California family leave's answer. Ask HR for both determinations in writing.

Where I read this

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