Over a year ago, the California Legislature passed the New Parent Leave Act (NPLA), which expanded the availability of baby-bonding benefits to smaller employers (those with at least 20 employees). Prior law had restricted this required benefit to larger employers (50 or more employees). Now, as amended by the NPLA, the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) provides 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of an employee's child if employed with an employer of 20 or more employees. While the CFRA is more expansive for larger employers with respect to family medical leave (it includes leave for an employee's serious health condition or caring for the serious condition of a child, parent or spouse), the NPLA only provides baby-bonding leave. Under both the CFRA and the NPLA, employers must guarantee reinstatement to employees who avail themselves of this statutory benefit.

New Posting Requirements

As a result of long-awaited regulatory guidance, smaller employers (20-49 employees) now have a new posting requirement, and larger employers (50 or more employees) have an updated posting obligation. There is also a revised medical certification form. The new required postings primarily address:

1. The addition of the NPLA in the CFRA's definition section; and
2. The removal of gender-specific pronouns and references in the CFRA's Certification of Health Care Provider form.

The posters must be displayed prominently where employees and applicants for employment can easily see them. If 10 percent or more of the workforce speaks a language other than English, a version must also be posted in that language. The DFEH provides translated posters in several languages and will work with an employer if other translations are needed. In addition to the new posters, employers may also wish to provide notice of this benefit to all current employees. As an alternative to displaying multiple DFEH posters, some employers prefer to purchase and display an "all-in-one" poster from a Chamber of Commerce or other private organization.

Click to view the new required poster and the updated medical certification form. There is also a separate poster last updated in June 2017  regarding pregnancy disability leave for employers with 5 or more employees. Employers may also need to update handbooks and train human resources personnel on the new leave policies and updated medical certification form.

A more expansive explanation of the changes to leave policies and the addition of the NPLA in 2018 can be found in our 2018 Labor and Employment Law Update for California Employers.