California Medical Leave Laws

In California, many employees are eligible for a certain amount of unpaid, job-protected leave for specific medical reasons, including a serious health condition. If you were fired or retaliated against for taking or requesting medical leave, or demoted or dismissed before you could return, contact Fairchild Employment Law for legal advice and assistance. Our employment law attorneys in San Diego can help you seek justice.

What Makes Us the Right Choice for You in San Diego

• With decades of collective experience working as employment lawyers, we have a deep understanding of federal and state medical leave laws. We know exactly how to protect clients who have been unlawfully denied or retaliated against for taking medical leave.
• Jillian Fairchild, founder of Fairchild Employment Law, spent 15 years as a defense attorney defending employers. She knows exactly how employers and insurance adjusters think, which gives her a unique advantage in fighting for her clients.
• You won’t pay us anything for our work on your San Diego medical leave case unless we secure a settlement or judgment award on your behalf. We operate on a contingency fee basis for the peace of mind of clients going through a hard time.

What Are California’s Medical Leave Laws?

Both the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) allow eligible employees to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specific family and medical reasons. This means the worker can take time off work for approved reasons without fear of losing his or her job, being retaliated against, or not being allowed to come back.

These laws grant up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave per 12-month period to qualifying employees to handle their own serious illness, to care for a family member who is seriously ill, to bond with a new child, or to participate in a qualifying event connected to a family member’s military deployment to a foreign country.

Am I Eligible for FMLA or CFRA Protection?

Whether you qualify for medical leave protections depends on which law applies to your situation. The federal FMLA and CFRA have similar eligibility requirements, but there are some key differences worth knowing about.

Under both laws, you generally must have:

• Worked for your employer for at least 12 months (these don’t have to be consecutive)
• Logged at least 1,250 hours of actual work during the 12 months before your leave begins

Where the two laws differ is in employer coverage. The FMLA only applies to employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius. The CFRA, on the other hand, covers employers with as few as five employees. This is a major distinction, because it means that many California workers who aren’t covered by federal law are still protected under state law.

It’s also worth noting that the CFRA does not cover pregnancy-related leave. Instead, California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) law provides up to four months of protected leave for conditions tied to pregnancy and childbirth. PDL can be taken in addition to CFRA leave, which means eligible employees may have access to significantly more time off than the standard 12 weeks. If you believe your PDL has been denied by your employer or used against you at work, contact a San Diego pregnancy discrimination lawyer immediately.

Common Signs Your Medical Leave Rights Have Been Violated

Employers don’t always violate protected leave laws in obvious ways. In many cases, the retaliation is subtle enough that employees aren’t sure whether what happened to them was actually illegal. Here are some common warning signs to watch for:

• You were wrongfully terminated shortly after requesting or returning from medical leave
• Your employer denied your leave request without providing a legitimate reason
• You were demoted, had your hours cut, or were reassigned to a lesser position after coming back from leave
• Your supervisor discouraged you from taking leave or pressured you to return before you were medically cleared
• You were written up or placed on a performance improvement plan with no prior history of performance issues
• Your employer eliminated your position while you were out on leave and didn’t offer you a comparable role when you returned

If any of these situations sound familiar, your rights may have been violated. An experienced San Diego employment lawyer with our law firm can review the facts and help you determine whether you have a valid claim.

What to Do in the Face of a Medical Leave Violation

If you believe your medical leave rights have been violated by an employer in San Diego, start documenting your situation in detail. This is especially important when leave is requested for pregnancy-related medical care or a disability, as these cases often involve retaliation or wrongful termination. Then, bring these documents to a free consultation at Fairchild Employment Law to have an experienced attorney review your case.

Compensation and Remedies for Medical Leave Retaliation

If your employer retaliated against you for exercising your medical leave rights, California law provides several potential remedies. The goal is to put you back in the position you would have been in if the violation had never occurred.

Depending on the specifics of your case, you may be entitled to:

• Back pay for the wages you lost as a result of the retaliation
• Front pay if reinstatement to your former position isn’t practical
• Reinstatement to your previous job or an equivalent role
• Compensation for emotional distress caused by the employer’s conduct
• Recovery of attorney’s fees and court costs
• Punitive damages in cases involving especially egregious behavior

Claims for medical leave retaliation in California can be brought under the CFRA, the FMLA, and in many cases under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) as well. Each of these laws has its own procedures and deadlines, making it wise to seek legal advice as soon as you realistically can. 

Contact Our Employment Attorneys in San Diego Today

It can be difficult to take a stand against your employer, even if the law is on your side. If you have suffered adverse employment actions due to issues related to your legal right to take job-protected medical leave, the best way forward is to contact an employment law attorney in San Diego. 

When you contact us for a free case evaluation, we will carefully review your situation and ask questions to determine if there has been a medical leave law violation. If so, we may offer to represent you in the fight to seek fair financial compensation for your related losses from your employer. This may include lost wages and employment benefits, reinstatement of your job, emotional distress, and punitive damages for willful violations of the law. Find out how much your case might be worth and how we can help you today. Call Fairchild Employment Law at (619) 306-1454. Our team can get results when you need them most.