Caregiver Leave: Your Right to Take Time Off to Care for a Family Member
Your parent is diagnosed with cancer. Your child is hospitalized. Your spouse needs surgery and cannot care for themselves during recovery. California law provides job-protected leave for employees who need time away from work to care for a seriously ill family member — and the right applies to a broader range of relationships than most employees realize.
The California Family Rights Act is best known for the leave it provides employees dealing with their own serious health conditions. But CFRA serves a second, equally important function: it protects employees who need time away from work to care for a family member with a serious health condition.
This form of leave — caregiver leave — operates under the same statute and the same framework as medical leave for the employee’s own condition. But it raises distinct issues: the range of family relationships that qualify, the documentation the employer can require, and the practical reality of balancing caregiving with the demands of employment.
The entitlement
CFRA provides eligible employees with up to twelve workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a twelve-month period to care for a family member with a serious health condition. Government Code section 12945.2, subdivision (a).
The eligibility requirements are the same as for the employee’s own medical leave: the employee must have worked for the employer for at least twelve months, must have worked at least 1,250 hours in the preceding twelve months, and the employer must have five or more employees.
The leave is job-protected, meaning the employee is entitled to reinstatement to the same or a comparable position upon return. The employer must maintain the employee’s group health insurance during the leave on the same terms as if the employee were actively working.
Who qualifies as a family member
CFRA defines the family relationships that qualify for caregiver leave broadly — and the list has been expanded significantly in recent years.
An eligible employee may take CFRA leave to care for a: spouse or registered domestic partner; child (of any age — there is no requirement that the child be a minor); parent; grandparent; grandchild; sibling; or a designated person.
The “designated person” category, added effective January 1, 2023, allows an employee to identify one person per twelve-month period who is not in any of the listed categories but who is the equivalent of a family member. This could be a close friend, an unmarried partner, or any other individual with whom the employee has a significant personal bond. The employer may require the employee to identify the designated person at the time the leave is requested.
This expansion is worth emphasizing. Under federal FMLA, caregiver leave is limited to a spouse, child, or parent. CFRA’s broader definition — including grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, domestic partners, and designated persons — means that California employees can take protected leave to care for family members who would not qualify under federal law.
What counts as a serious health condition
The family member’s condition must meet the definition of a “serious health condition” — the same standard that applies to the employee’s own medical leave. This includes: a condition requiring inpatient care (overnight hospitalization); a condition requiring continuing treatment by a health care provider, including chronic conditions, conditions requiring multiple treatments (such as chemotherapy or dialysis), and conditions involving a period of incapacity of more than three consecutive calendar days with continuing treatment.
The condition does not need to be life-threatening or permanent. A parent recovering from hip replacement surgery who needs assistance with daily activities for several weeks has a serious health condition. A child hospitalized for a severe infection has a serious health condition. A spouse undergoing cancer treatment has a serious health condition.
The determination is medical, not administrative. The employee’s health care provider — or, more precisely, the family member’s health care provider — certifies the condition and the need for the employee’s care.
What “care” means
The leave is available when the employee is needed to “care for” the family member. This is not limited to providing direct medical care. It includes providing physical care, emotional support, and assistance with basic needs during a period of serious illness or treatment. Driving the family member to medical appointments, managing medications, being present during hospitalization, providing meals and household support during recovery, and attending to the family member’s emotional and psychological needs all constitute care within the meaning of the statute.
The employee does not need to be the only person available to provide care. The statute does not require the employee to prove that no one else can help. The employee’s desire and willingness to be present for a seriously ill family member is sufficient.
Intermittent and reduced-schedule leave
CFRA caregiver leave may be taken intermittently — in separate blocks of time — or on a reduced schedule, when the leave is medically necessary. An employee whose parent requires weekly chemotherapy treatments may take leave one day per week for each treatment rather than taking twelve consecutive weeks.
Intermittent leave is particularly important for caregivers because caregiving responsibilities are often periodic rather than continuous. The employee may need to accompany the family member to appointments, provide care during flare-ups of a chronic condition, or manage the family member’s needs during specific phases of treatment.
The employer may require the employee to provide a medical certification from the family member’s health care provider supporting the need for intermittent leave, including the expected frequency and duration of the absences.
The employer’s obligations
The employer’s obligations during caregiver leave are the same as those during medical leave.
Job protection. The employee must be reinstated to the same or a comparable position upon return. The employer may not use the employee’s absence as a basis for discipline, demotion, or termination.
Health insurance. The employer must maintain the employee’s group health insurance during the leave.
No retaliation. The employer may not retaliate against an employee for requesting or taking caregiver leave. Retaliation includes not only termination but also demotion, negative evaluations, reduced responsibilities, and any other action that would deter a reasonable employee from taking the leave they are entitled to.
Common violations
The violations that arise in caregiver leave cases mirror those in the employee’s own medical leave cases, with one additional dynamic: employers sometimes treat caregiver leave as less legitimate than leave for the employee’s own health condition. A supervisor who would not question an employee’s need for surgery may express skepticism about an employee’s need to care for a parent — questioning whether the employee is “really needed,” suggesting the family member should “hire a home aide,” or implying that the leave is being used as vacation.
These attitudes, when they influence employment decisions, are unlawful. The statute does not distinguish between medical leave and caregiver leave in terms of the employee’s rights or the employer’s obligations. An employee who is denied caregiver leave, penalized for taking it, or terminated in connection with it has the same claim as an employee whose own medical leave was violated.
If you need time away from work to care for a seriously ill family member — a parent, a child, a spouse, a sibling, a grandparent, or someone who is the equivalent of family — California law provides job-protected leave. The employer may not deny it, may not penalize you for taking it, and must return you to your position when the leave ends.
This article is general information about California law and is not legal advice. Every situation turns on its particular facts.