Killing California’s Employers Off, One Paid Leave At A Time

Katy Grimes: Once upon a time, employment laws used to be about the employer need and purpose, as well as ensuring the decent and humane treatment of the employee. Today employment law surrounds the needs and purpose of the employee only, and at the expense of the private sector employers.

With that introduction, California employers are facing another employer paid leave of absence mandate from the legislature. But the question still stands in the minds of most private employers: Should employers be required to pay for employee time off for vacations, sick leave, when they have babies or want to bond with the baby, to take care of a family member, for drug or alcohol rehabilitation, or to donate bone marrow or an organ?

SB 1304 authored by Senator Mark DeSaulnier, D-Palo Alto, is another such leave program which would require private employers to allow employees to take paid leaves of absence for organ and bone marrow donation, and then restore the employee returning from leave to the same position or an equivalent position. The bill would prohibit a private employer from interfering with an employee taking organ donation leave or retaliating against an employee for taking that leave.

The bill would also create a private right of action for an aggrieved employee to seek enforcement of the paid leave law.

Currently, under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), eligible employees to take up to a total of twelve (18) weeks, per calendar year, of paid or unpaid job-protected leave, as well as California Paid Family Leave, run by the state disability department. While an employee is on approved FMLA/CFRA or Paid Family Leave, the employee’s health, dental and vision benefits are maintained by the employer.

Existing law already requires that state employees be permitted to take a leave of absence with pay, not exceeding 30 days for the purpose of organ donation.

Opponents of the time-off for organ donation bill argue that adding another employer mandate to the private sector is not only a job and business killer, it is not the role of government. California businesses are closing, moving and filing bankruptcy are record numbers. Requiring another form of employer-paid leave could tip many businesses over the edge of the cliff.

Business owners and small employers report they usually operate with very thin margins and do not have overlapping job descriptions for employees. When a private sector employee takes time off, there is no one to fill in. More likely, employees in the struggling private sector are performing the job functions of two or more jobs, just to keep the business afloat.

Opposing the bill are the California Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Business, California Employment Law Council and even the Department of Industrial Relations, together with contractor and grocer employer groups.

Supporting the bill are many of the state’s labor unions including the SEIU, California Nurses Association, California State Employees Association (CSEA) and the CSEA for retirees, California State University Employees Union, as well as several attorney associations including the California Employment Lawyers Association, and Consumer Attorneys of California.

The bill passed the Assembly Labor and Employment committee Wednesday and is headed for the Judiciary committee.