Workplace Protections for Survivors of Domestic Violence, Stalking, and Sexual Assault
An employee who is a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking has specific rights in the California workplace — including the right to time off, the right to reasonable accommodation, and the right to be free from discrimination based on their status as a victim. These protections are among the least known in California employment law, and they exist because the workplace should not become another place where a survivor is punished for what someone else did to them.
The impact of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking does not stop at the workplace door. A survivor may need time off for a court hearing, for a medical appointment related to the violence, for a meeting with a counselor or an advocate, or to take steps to ensure their safety — obtaining a restraining order, relocating, changing a phone number, enrolling a child in a new school. These needs are urgent, they are often unpredictable, and they are entirely unrelated to the survivor’s ability or willingness to work.
California law recognizes this with a set of protections that are specific, enforceable, and — because they are not widely known — underused.
The right to time off
Government Code section 12945.8 protects employees who experience qualifying acts of violence and employees whose family members experience them. Domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking are included, along with specified acts involving injury, weapons, or threats of physical injury or death. The protections moved into FEHA in 2025.
Relief and court proceedings. Regardless of employer size, an employee who is a victim may take time off to obtain a restraining order or other relief protecting the employee or their child. Beginning January 1, 2026, specified crime victims and their family members also have protected time off for covered judicial proceedings. Government Code section 12945.8(a).
Broader leave at employers with twenty-five or more employees. Section 12945.8(b) protects time off for medical care, mental-health services, victim services, safety planning, relocation, legal services and proceedings, and necessary care connected with a qualifying act of violence. These purposes include helping an affected family member. An employer may limit this broader leave to twelve weeks; where only a living family member is a victim, the employer may impose a ten-day total and a five-day limit for relocation. Eligible FMLA and CFRA leave runs concurrently.
The employee must provide reasonable advance notice when feasible. For an unscheduled absence, the employer may request certification within a reasonable time. Acceptable certification includes police or court records, documentation from specified professionals or advocates, or another document reasonably verifying the qualifying act, including a signed statement by the employee or someone acting on their behalf.
Confidentiality is mandatory. The employer must keep requests and supporting information confidential, except when disclosure is required by law or necessary to protect the employee’s safety at work. The employee must receive notice before an authorized disclosure.
The right to reasonable accommodation
Government Code section 12945.8(e) requires reasonable safety accommodations for an employee who is a victim or whose family member is a victim of a qualifying act of violence. The employee must disclose that status and request an accommodation for safety at work.
Reasonable accommodations may include: a transfer or reassignment; a modified work schedule; a changed work telephone number or workstation; assistance in documenting the domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking that occurs in the workplace; implementation of a safety plan; and any other accommodation that addresses the safety concerns arising from the domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking.
The employer must engage in a timely, good-faith interactive process to identify appropriate accommodations — the same process required for disability accommodation. The employer may request documentation supporting the need for the accommodation, and the employee may provide any of the forms of documentation described above.
An accommodation need not be provided if it creates undue hardship under Government Code section 12926. For this protection, undue hardship also includes an action that would violate the employer’s duty to maintain a safe and healthful workplace for all employees. The employer must consider urgent circumstances and danger facing the employee or family member.
Protection from discrimination
Government Code section 12945.8(d) prohibits adverse treatment because the employee or a family member is a victim when the employer has notice or actual knowledge of that status. Protected leave and safety-accommodation requests carry additional protections against interference and retaliation.
This protection is critical because survivors of domestic violence often face workplace consequences for the violence inflicted on them. An employee whose abuser shows up at the workplace, whose absences for court appearances or medical treatment are counted against them, or whose emotional distress affects performance in ways the employer is unwilling to accommodate is being penalized for being a victim. The statute prohibits this.
Protection from retaliation
An employee who exercises rights under Government Code section 12945.8 — including protected time off or a request for safety accommodation — is protected against prohibited retaliation. Requesting a reasonable safety accommodation is protected whether or not the request is granted.
The anti-retaliation protection extends to employees who inform the employer of their status, who request accommodation, or who take time off for any of the purposes the statutes cover. The protection applies regardless of whether the employee ultimately obtains a restraining order, whether the prosecution results in a conviction, or whether the employee’s safety concerns are later resolved.
What employers must do
California’s requirements are affirmative, not passive. Employers have specific obligations.
Notice. Section 12945.8(k) requires written notice of these rights on hire, annually, on request, and whenever an employee informs the employer that the employee or a family member is a victim. The Civil Rights Department provides a notice employers may use.
Confidentiality. All information provided by the employee regarding the violence must be kept confidential. The employer may disclose this information only as required by law or as necessary to protect the employee’s safety in the workplace, and must notify the employee before disclosure.
No inquiry beyond what is necessary. The employer may request documentation to support the need for time off or accommodation, but it may not require the employee to disclose more than is necessary for the employer to verify the need and provide the appropriate response.
Why these protections exist
Domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking affect millions of workers. The violence is not the employee’s fault, and the consequences — missed work, emotional distress, safety concerns, the need for legal proceedings and medical treatment — are not a reflection of the employee’s commitment to the job or ability to perform it.
Without workplace protections, survivors face an impossible choice: address the violence and risk the job, or protect the job and endure the violence. California law eliminates that choice by ensuring that the workplace accommodates the employee’s needs, that time off for essential purposes is protected, and that the employer may not treat the employee’s status as a victim as grounds for adverse action.
These protections are not charity. They are an acknowledgment that a survivor who is supported at work — who can attend court hearings, access counseling, implement a safety plan, and adjust their work arrangements as needed — is more likely to achieve safety, stability, and productivity than one who is forced to choose between their job and their survival.
If you are a survivor of domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking and you need time off, a workplace accommodation, or protection from discrimination based on your status, California law provides specific and enforceable rights. These protections exist because what happened to you is not your fault, and your employer may not treat it as though it is.
This article is general information about California law and is not legal advice. Every situation turns on its particular facts.