The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) recently issued a new Certification of Health Care Provider form that employers may use for medical certification when an employee requests leave under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) or the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), due to the employee’s or the employee’s family member’s serious health condition.

This form is particularly useful to California employers for the reason that, unlike the Department of Labor FMLA health care provider certification forms, the DFEH form excludes questions requesting medical diagnosis, which California employers are not entitled to obtain under the CFRA with respect to their employees or their employees’ family members.

The CFRA and FMLA apply to employers with at least 50 employees within a 75-mile radius. Eligible employees must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months prior to taking the leave.  Similarly, California also provides baby bonding leave under the New Parent Leave Act (NPLA) for new parent employees who have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and at least 1,250 hours during the 12 months prior to taking the leave.  The NPLA applies to employers with at least 20 employees within a 75-mile radius.  Employers should keep in mind that business entities with common management, operations, centralized control of labor relations, and/or common ownership may be considered a single employer for purposes of determining the number of employees employed.

The author would like to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of Joanne Warriner.