This new category of leave is “separate and distinct from,” that is, in addition to, the 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave employers must offer employees to care for themselves or family members under the California Family Rights Act .
The new law does not require that this additional leave time be paid, “except that an employee may use vacation, personal leave, accrued and available sick leave, or compensatory time off that is otherwise available to the employee” for this purpose. An employer must maintain the confidentiality of any request for bereavement leave. Any documentation the employee provides to substantiate the leave request may only be disclosed by the employer to internal personnel or to counsel “as necessary, or as required by law.”
The mediation provision already is in place for disputes against small employers arising out of CFRA. The provision is a pilot program, which automatically will end on Jan. 1, 2024 unless the California legislature extends it.
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