California has long led the country in giving workers an opportunity to make the most of days off work. The California Family Rights Act (CFRA), a bill that at the time it was passed in 1991 was a bold experiment proposed by Assemblywoman Gwen Moore, gave Californians guaranteed leave weeks to spend time to take care of a new child in the family or a seriously ill family member.

The status quo among companies that manage their workers in the state changed. But, that first added guarantee was not to be the last.

Setting The Leave Mark

California started its change in usual work plans long before 1991, in the 1970s, when many lawmakers in the states still sat on the fence on guaranteed leave. Foolish, to the leaders during the first round, meant thinking of family time simply as something that can be made use of to make the company productive. They made plans to change company practices. Life outside of work could not be missed out on just because a supervisor decided to not give their permission. Family and medical leave supporters gathered together to agree on a law that could open up opportunities for leave taking. For the next two decades, work on making the workplace family friendly never stopped.

The California Family Rights Act

The long effort paid off. In 1991, California got its model law on record. Family and medical leave got a practical start. Four months of unpaid leave during 24 months for workers who had put in 12 months (52 weeks) at the company and built up 1,250 hours within the 12 months before their leave began. Companies that employed 50 or more workers, part-time or full time, joined the leave bandwagon. They had to follow the state law. After the four weeks were up, the worker got their old job back, guaranteed.

The law Gwen Moore proposed and assemblymembers Roberti and Brown signed onto to support opened supervisors eyes to the under appreciated requests made by their workers to take long leave periods.

The Family and Leave Act

National leaders, most notably President Bill Clinton, took another step. Four weeks was still too short. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 made leave days mushroom from California's four weeks to 12 work weeks, during 12 months, in every state in the nation. Workers did not have to give up their health benefits. The California law did not protect benefits from getting taken away during a leave. The national law did. The original goals chosen by the leaders that stood for a balance of work time and family time in the west coast state had been surpassed.

Assemblywoman Gwen Moore leapt at the opportunity to improve the leave guaranteed by the state law in California by making it fall in line with the national law. In 1993, the state legislature amended the California Family Rights Act. The two laws go hand in hand. Both 12 weeks in 12 months. Health care benefits guaranteed. The worker's own serious illness can justify taking the days off work.

Pregnancy Disability Leave

A different law gives Californians the opportunity to take pregnancy disability leave. The four months leave is taken during pregnancy. After the four months end, a parent can take the 12 weeks CFRA leave for the childbirth and bonding with the baby. The laws might be separate, but the CFRA leave comes after the pregnancy leave for a good reason. Days off to spend time with family are a California pair to work days.

Paid Family Leave

Leave days do not have to pass by without a pay day. To Californians, the most fair opportunity is an opportunity to take paid leave. On July 1, 2004, workers who paid into the state disability insurance in payroll taxes got this opportunity. Paid Family Leave (PFL) was the state law. Six weeks paid leave taken at the same time as the unpaid leave. Fifty five percent regular pay. A company has to have just one worker to do as the law says and offer paid leave to their worker. The worker can take the leave no matter how many hours they have worked.

That made leave possible for those Californians that did not make enough income to afford the time off their earning days on the job. No supervisor can get in the way of family plans. But, they can ask their employee to take up to two weeks paid vacation before they start the paid family leave.

Plans For More Coverage

Lawmakers were prepared to give workers more leave coverage in the 1990s. By the time 1998 came to end, legislators had proposed adding a seriously ill housemate and children that can not be in school or in child care to the take care of list. Governor Pete Wilson vetoed the second proposal after it was added to another bill, and both bills lost. Pete Wilson also vetoed one more attempt. An attempt to cover worker expenses by adding paid sick leave to the leave companies have to offer to a worker that requests time off to take care of an ill child, spouse, or parent. The bills all lost, but the leave supporters never broke ranks.

Still At Work

There is always a legislator working on another step. Paid leave that lasts longer is a proposal that never stops coming up. Thanks for the days off could one day be the words a parent who left work to spend time at their child's class to help them learn said to their supervisor.

Source:

California Senate office of research, Women and Equality: A California Review of Women’s Equity Issues in Civil Rights, Education and the Workplace (February, 1999).

California Family Rights Act, in the Fair Employment and Housing Act (1993).