Provisions

• The California Family Leave and Rights Act is aligned with federal law.law courts image by Peter Helin from Fotolia.com
  
  The California Family Leave and Rights Act allows an eligible employee to take off up to 12 weeks from work. An eligible employee must have worked for at least 12 months or 1,250 hours prior to making a request for a leave of absence. Only employers with 50 or more employees are subject to this law.
  
  

Reasons

• Reasons for requesting a leave of absence include an illness or birth of a child.stethoscope image by dinostock from Fotolia.com
  
  An employee may leave her job for several reasons, including the birth or adoption of a child and to care for an immediate family member who is ill. An immediate family member is considered to be a spouse, child or parent. An employee may also request a leave of absence due to an illness.
  
  

Protection

• When returning from a leave, workers retain their benefits and levels of employment.aktenkoffer mit umschlag image by binagel from Fotolia.com
  
  When an employee returns to work after an approved leave, she is entitled to an equivalent level of employment; this includes comparable benefits, salary and other conditions she had before the leave. An employer has the right to transfer an employee to another position, as long as her benefits remain the same.
  
  

Procedures

• Any request for a leave must be made at least 30 days in advance, if the need is foreseeable. Employees may also use any vacation or paid leave time before the unpaid leave is used. If the leave is for a medical condition, the employee must provide medical certification, and a doctor’s work-release form must be submitted in order to return to work.
  
  

Benefits

• During an approved leave, an employer must continue to pay for an employee's benefits, which may include health, vision and dental insurance costs. When an employee returns to work, he may be required to repay those costs.