Updated October 2026 · 10 min read
CFRA leave is up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected time off in a 12-month period under the California Family Rights Act, available to employees of businesses with five or more employees. The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) covers similar reasons but applies to far fewer workplaces.
The difference matters. A worker at a 20-person company has no FMLA rights, yet can still take 12 weeks of CFRA leave and return to the same or a comparable job. A pregnant worker who knows how pregnancy disability leave and CFRA stack can have nearly seven months of job-protected leave, not just 12 weeks.
Below: CFRA basics, a side-by-side comparison, eligibility, pay, and what to do if leave is denied.
- CFRA leave gives up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a 12-month period if your employer has 5 or more employees and you have more than 12 months of service and at least 1,250 hours in the past year.
- The FMLA applies only if your employer has 50 or more employees within 75 miles of your worksite, so many California workers are covered only by CFRA.
- CFRA also covers grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, parents-in-law, domestic partners, adult children and a designated person.
- When both laws apply they usually run at the same time. Pregnancy is the big exception: up to 4 months of PDL (with FMLA), then up to 12 weeks of CFRA bonding.
- Leave is unpaid, but PFL and SDI pay about 70% to 90% of wages, up to $1,765 a week in 2026. You generally have 3 years to file a CRD complaint if leave is denied.
What is CFRA leave? The basics
The California Family Rights Act is found in Government Code section 12945.2. It makes it unlawful for a covered employer to refuse an eligible employee’s request for up to 12 workweeks of family care and medical leave in any 12-month period. CFRA leave can be taken for four reasons:
- Baby bonding: the birth of your child, or the placement of a child with you for adoption or foster care.
- Family care: caring for a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, domestic partner or designated person who has a serious health condition.
- Your own serious health condition that makes you unable to do your job (pregnancy-related disability is handled separately under pregnancy disability leave).
- Military exigency: a qualifying exigency related to the active duty, or call to active duty, of your spouse, domestic partner, child or parent.
A “serious health condition” means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that involves inpatient care or continuing treatment or supervision by a health care provider. Leave can be taken all at once or in more than one period.
CFRA leave is unpaid but protected: your employer must guarantee your return to the same or a comparable position and keep paying for your group health coverage for up to 12 workweeks.
CFRA vs. FMLA at a glance
Both laws give up to 12 workweeks of job-protected leave and keep your health coverage in place. The differences are who is covered, which relatives count, and how pregnancy is treated.
| Issue | CFRA (California) | FMLA (federal) |
|---|---|---|
| Employer size | 5 or more employees; also the state and local public employers | 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks; public agencies and schools |
| Your eligibility | More than 12 months of service and at least 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months | 12 months, 1,250 hours, and a worksite with at least 50 employees within 75 miles |
| Leave amount | 12 workweeks in a 12-month period | 12 workweeks; up to 26 workweeks for military caregiver leave |
| Family members covered | Child (any age), parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, domestic partner, designated person | Spouse, parent (not in-laws), child under 18 or an adult child unable to care for themself because of a disability |
| Pregnancy disability | Not covered by CFRA; handled by PDL (up to 4 months) | Covered as a serious health condition, and runs at the same time as PDL |
| Military family leave | Qualifying exigency for a spouse, domestic partner, child or parent | Qualifying exigency, plus military caregiver leave |
| Pay | Unpaid; PFL, SDI and accrued time off may apply | Unpaid; PFL, SDI and accrued time off may apply |
| Where to file a claim | California Civil Rights Department (CRD) | U.S. Department of Labor or court |
Sources: Gov. Code 12945.2; U.S. Department of Labor Fact Sheets 28 and 28F. See also our FMLA and CFRA leave rights page.
Who qualifies for CFRA leave and FMLA leave
CFRA. Your employer must directly employ five or more people, or be the state, a city or another public entity. You must have more than 12 months of service with the employer and at least 1,250 hours of service during the 12 months before the leave.
FMLA. A private employer is covered if it has 50 or more employees in 20 or more workweeks in the current or prior calendar year. You must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months, have at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before leave starts, and work at a location where the employer has at least 50 employees within 75 miles.
Because of the 75-mile rule, many workers at small offices, franchises and branch locations are covered only by CFRA, which still gives them 12 weeks of job-protected leave.
Refusing protected leave, or firing or demoting you for using it, is illegal in California. Talk to our employment lawyers in a free, confidential consultation.
Reasons for leave and who counts as family
CFRA’s family list is broader than the FMLA’s, and this is where many requests are wrongly denied.
- Child: a biological, adopted or foster child, stepchild, legal ward, child of a domestic partner, or someone you stand in place of a parent to. CFRA’s definition has no age cap, so caring for a seriously ill adult child can qualify.
- Parent: includes a parent-in-law (the parent of your spouse or domestic partner), a stepparent and a legal guardian.
- Grandparents, grandchildren and siblings are all covered by CFRA, but not by the FMLA.
- Registered domestic partner: covered by CFRA as defined in Family Code section 297. The FMLA covers spouses only.
- Designated person: anyone related to you by blood, or whose association with you is the equivalent of a family relationship. You can identify the person when you request leave. Your employer may limit you to one designated person per 12-month period.
The FMLA covers one military reason CFRA does not: military caregiver leave, which allows up to 26 workweeks in a single 12-month period to care for a covered servicemember or recent veteran with a serious injury or illness. Both laws cover qualifying exigency leave tied to a family member’s military service, and CFRA extends it to domestic partners.
Can you take FMLA and CFRA separately? How they run together
In most cases, no. When a reason qualifies under both laws, CFRA leave and FMLA leave run at the same time, and the combined total cannot exceed 12 workweeks in a 12-month period (Gov. Code 12945.2(o) and (p)).
There are important exceptions:
- Pregnancy. FMLA leave taken for a pregnancy-related disability does not use up your CFRA leave. CFRA expressly excludes pregnancy disability, and you remain entitled to CFRA leave in addition to pregnancy disability leave.
- Reasons only one law covers. Leave to care for a grandparent, sibling, parent-in-law, domestic partner or designated person is CFRA-only. Military caregiver leave is FMLA-only. Leave used for a reason only one law covers generally does not count against the other law’s 12 weeks.
Paid Family Leave benefits also run at the same time as FMLA and CFRA leave when you are entitled to both (Unemployment Insurance Code 3303.1(b)). PFL replaces part of your wages; it does not add weeks of leave.
Pregnancy and new parents: how PDL, CFRA and FMLA stack
It is misleading to say CFRA “doesn’t count pregnancy.” CFRA does not cover pregnancy disability, but it does cover bonding with your baby, and the leaves stack:
- Pregnancy disability leave (PDL), Government Code section 12945, gives up to four months of job-protected leave per pregnancy while you are disabled by pregnancy, childbirth or a related condition. It applies at employers with five or more employees. Your employer must keep paying for your group health coverage during PDL, up to four months.
- The FMLA, if it applies, runs at the same time as PDL, because both cover a pregnancy-related medical condition.
- CFRA is counted separately from PDL. After your disability ends, you can take up to 12 more weeks of CFRA leave to bond with your baby. Bonding leave must be taken within one year of the birth, adoption or foster placement.
💡 Example: Maria works at a company location with 120 employees and qualifies for both CFRA and the FMLA. Her doctor certifies that she is disabled by pregnancy for 4 weeks before the birth and 8 weeks after. Those 12 weeks are PDL, and the FMLA runs at the same time. She then takes 12 weeks of CFRA bonding leave. In total she has 24 weeks of job-protected leave (12 + 12).
Fathers, partners and adoptive parents can also take 12 weeks of CFRA bonding leave if eligible. See our guide to pregnancy disability leave in California.
Is CFRA leave paid? PFL, SDI and your accrued time
CFRA and FMLA leave are unpaid. Two state programs run by the Employment Development Department (EDD) fill part of the gap:
- Paid Family Leave (PFL) pays benefits for up to 8 weeks in a 12-month period to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill family member, or support a family member’s military deployment.
- State Disability Insurance (SDI) pays when you cannot work because of your own illness, injury, pregnancy or childbirth, for up to 52 weeks.
- How much: for both programs, the weekly benefit is about 70% to 90% of the wages you earned 5 to 18 months before your claim start date, depending on income. The current (2026) range is $50 to $1,765 a week.
PFL provides money, not job protection; your job is protected by CFRA, the FMLA or PDL. Learn more about SDI, Paid Family Leave and job protection.
You can also use accrued vacation or other paid time off during CFRA leave, and your employer can require it. Accrued sick leave can be substituted during leave for your own serious health condition; for other CFRA reasons it requires agreement with your employer under the CFRA statute, although California’s paid sick leave law separately lets you use your paid sick days to care for a family member. Since January 1, 2025, your employer can no longer make you use up to two weeks of vacation before PFL benefits begin (Unemployment Insurance Code 3303.1(c), as amended by AB 2123).
One change is coming: starting July 1, 2028, PFL will also cover care for a designated person (SB 590, Chapter 772, Statutes of 2025). CFRA already protects your job for that reason today.
Your job, health coverage and protection from retaliation
When CFRA leave ends, you are entitled to return to the same or a comparable position, meaning one with the same or similar duties and pay at the same or a similar location. You keep your seniority, and your employer-paid health coverage continues during the leave.
It is unlawful for an employer to:
- deny or interfere with CFRA leave you are entitled to, or discourage you from taking it;
- fire, demote, discipline, cut hours or otherwise discriminate against you because you requested or took leave;
- retaliate because you gave information or testimony about CFRA leave.
If that happens, a claim under the Fair Employment and Housing Act can seek lost wages and benefits, reinstatement, damages for emotional distress, attorney’s fees and, in some cases, punitive damages. See our page on retaliation claims in California.
Deadlines and what to do if your leave is denied
For a CFRA violation, you generally must file a complaint with the California Civil Rights Department within 3 years of the unlawful act (Gov. Code 12960). After the CRD issues a right-to-sue notice, you generally have one year to file a lawsuit. FMLA claims can be filed with the U.S. Department of Labor or in court; the federal deadline is generally two years, or three for a willful violation.
- Give notice early. If the need is foreseeable, give 30 days’ notice when possible, or as soon as you can. Explain why you need the time off; you generally do not have to name the law.
- Provide certification if asked. For your own condition, it is enough for your provider to state the start date, probable duration and that you cannot perform your job. Family-care certifications add the time needed and that the condition warrants your care. No diagnosis is required.
- Put everything in writing and keep a log of every day of leave and which law your employer counts it under.
- Apply for PFL or SDI with the EDD.
- Document any pushback, such as comments about your leave, discipline or a sudden termination.
- Talk to an employment lawyer before you sign anything. Our guide on how to file a CRD complaint and get a right-to-sue notice walks through the process.
For a full walkthrough, see how to take family leave in California.
Frequently asked questions
Is CFRA the same as FMLA?
No. Both give up to 12 workweeks of job-protected leave, but CFRA leave applies at employers with five or more employees, covers more relatives, and excludes pregnancy disability. The FMLA requires 50 employees within 75 miles and adds military caregiver leave.
Can I take CFRA and FMLA back to back?
Usually not for the same reason, because they run at the same time. The main exception is pregnancy: FMLA runs with pregnancy disability leave, and 12 weeks of CFRA bonding leave can follow.
Who counts as a “designated person” for CFRA leave?
Anyone related to you by blood, or whose association with you is the equivalent of a family relationship. You can name the person when you request leave; your employer can limit you to one designated person per 12 months.
Is CFRA leave paid in California?
No, but you may receive PFL or SDI benefits from the EDD (about 70% to 90% of prior wages, up to $1,765 a week), and you can use accrued paid time off.
Can my employer deny CFRA leave?
Not if you are eligible and the reason qualifies. Your employer can ask for certification and reasonable notice, but it cannot refuse, discourage or punish protected leave.
Can I be fired while on CFRA leave?
Leave does not shield you from a genuine layoff that would have reached your job anyway. But firing you because of your leave is illegal, and timing close to the leave can be strong evidence of retaliation.
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This article provides general information about California law and is not legal advice for any specific situation. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
