On July 1, 2015, the recent amendments to the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) regulations go into effect. Employers who are covered by the CFRA should be aware of these changes as they will impact how they handle family and medical leave for employees. The full text of the amended CFRA regulations can be found here.

Here are a few important changes that employers should be aware of:

• Employers now must respond to a leave request as soon as practicable and in any event no later than five (5) business days after receiving the employee’s request (it was previously ten (10) calendar days).
• Employers may no longer contact a healthcare provider for any reason other than to authenticate a medical certification. Previously, employers could contact a healthcare provider for clarification or authentication of a medical certification.
• An employer may not require an employee undergo a fitness-for-duty examination as a condition of an employee’s return to work after a leave of absence. The employer may only require a release to return-to-work from the employee’s healthcare provider.
• Before requiring a second medical opinion, employers must now have a “good faith objective” reason to doubt the validity of the original medical certification. Previously, employers only needed reason to doubt the validity of the certification.
• An employer is not entitled to a release to return to work for each instance of leave when leave is taken on an intermittent basis. However, there are circumstances where an employer can request periodic releases to return to work if the employee is in a safety sensitive position.
• The CFRA notice itself has changed. A copy of the new notice can be found on the Department of Fair Employment and Housing’s (“DFEH”) website at: http://www.dfeh.ca.gov. Of note, the DFEH is currently working on creating another revised notice.
• Employers are still required to post in a conspicuous place in the workplace a notice explaining the CFRA's provisions and providing information concerning the procedures for filing complaints of violations of the CFRA. But now, employers must also post this notice so it can be readily seen by applicants in addition to employees. Employers may satisfy this obligation by posting an electronic notice, presumably as long as applicants have access to it.
• The approved medical certification form has changed. The DFEH has not yet published a new form, but one should be available soon. It is important to remember that California employers should not use an FMLA medical certification form published by the U.S. Department of Labor because this form requests the disclosure of medical information beyond what is permitted by California law.
• The definition of "eligible employee” has been amended to clarify two aspects of calculating the 12 months of service requirement:

(a) Employment periods prior to a break in service of seven years or more need not be counted toward this amount of time, except for a break in service caused by a military service obligation or written agreement to the contrary; and

(b) If the employee is not eligible for CFRA leave at the start of a leave because the employees has not met the 12-month service requirement, the employee may meet that requirement while on leave because leave to which he or she is otherwise entitled counts toward length of service.

• “Spouse” has been expanded to specifically include registered domestic partners and same-sex partners in marriage.
• “Inpatient care” has been expanded to include when a healthcare facility formally admits a person with the expectation that he or she will remain overnight even if later the person does not actually remain overnight.

Employers should review and update their CFRA leave policies, notices and employee handbooks to comply with these new regulations.