July 1, 2015: A Day of Change for California Employers (Part 1)
While human resources professionals and counsel typically review “new laws” when a new year begins, this year there are significant changes going into effect on July 1, 2015.
This is the first of two articles about new requirements that take effect in California on July 1, 2015.
New California Family Rights Act Regulations
Effective July 1, 2015, extensive amendments to the California Family Rights Act (“CFRA”) regulations become effective. Among other things, the new regulations change several important definitions, clarify reinstatement rights, clarify and expand procedures regarding key employees, specify how the leave year is determined, address intermittent and reduced schedule leaves, shorten the time for the employer response to a leave request to five business days, clarify who may designate the use of other paid time during the leave, and further restrict the information provided to the employer on the medical certification form. For the new medical certification form, click here. The state has also issued language for a mandatory poster and described how employees are to be given notice of their CFRA rights. For the new poster language, click here.
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