FMLA and CFRA Fact Sheet

To be eligible for Family Medical Leave Act and/or California Family Rights Act:

1. Employees must have 12 cumulative months of UC employment calculated at the time your leave is to start.

• Part-time and temporary work count toward the 12 months of employment.
• If employee is on payroll for any part of the week that week, it counts as a week of employment.
• Per CFRA, time during which the employee is on leave counts towards the employment months requirement, but not toward the 1,250-hours requirement.

2. Employees must have worked at least 1,250 productive hours immediately preceding the 12 months before your FMLA/CFRA leave starts.

• Only time actually worked, including overtime hours, is counted.
• Productive hours do not include time away used for personal reasons, vacation/PTO, sick/extended sick time, and compensatory time off (CTO).
• Periods of unpaid leave or layoffs are not counted.
• A “rolling 12-month period” is used for calculating hours worked for determining if an employee is eligible to take a FMLA/CFRA leave.
• A USERRA-covered (Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act) military service obligation is credited with hours of service that would have been performed but for the period of military service.

FMLA/CFRA eligibility is re-calculated at the start of every calendar year, to include FMLA/CFRA leaves that are in process.

Eligible employees may take up to 12 workweeks of FMLA/CFRA leave per calendar year for one or more of the following qualifying reasons:

FMLA and CFRA

• A serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform the essential function(s) of their job for their own illness or injury
• A serious health condition that make the employee unable to perform the essential function(s) of their job due to a work-related illness or injury
• To care for a spouse, child (minor or dependent adult) or parent with a serious health condition
• Bonding for birth parent
• Bonding for nonbirth parent, foster placement, and/or adoption
• A qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that a spouse, child, or parent is a military member on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status

FMLA only

• The birth of a child (pregnancy)
• Military caregiver

CFRA only

• Bonding for birth parent post-FMLA
• To care for a grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or registered domestic partner with a serious health condition
• To care for domestic partner's child with serious health condition
• To care for a domestic partner with a serious health condition
• To care for an adult child with a serious health condition
• A qualifying exigency arising out of the fact that a domestic partner is a military member on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status

Intermittent/reduced schedule leave: employees may take FMLA/CFRA leave in separate blocks of time or by reducing the time they work each day or week for a single qualifying reason as noted above.

Both FMLA and/or CFRA qualifying leaves may be paid, unpaid or a combination of both, depending on your leave situation and needs.

The types of covered pay options (sick, vacation, PTO, EST) which may be applied to an otherwise unpaid FMLA and/or CFRA qualifying leave is outlined in the applicable union collective bargaining agreements or Personnel Policy for Staff Members (PPSM).

Campus policy-covered employees:

• View PPSM 2.210: Absence from Work

Health policy-covered employees:

• View UCSF Health Policies and Guidelines

Campus and Health union-represented employees:

• View Bargaining Units and Contracts

Pay for Family Care and Bonding (PFCB) offers eligible employees income replacement for up to eight workweeks per calendar year. PFCB is available for FMLA and/or CFRA leaves taken for the purposes of:

• Caring for a family member with a serious health condition
• Bonding with a newborn, recently placed adopted child, or foster child
• Military caregiver leave and/or
• Qualifying exigency leave

PFCB is not an available pay option for FMLA and/or CFRA leaves taken for the purposes of an employee's own serious health condition, pregnancy disability, or employee's work-related injury and/or illness. 

If an employee takes less than the full amount of leave allowed, they do not need to re-qualify (in terms of the number of hours worked) to take additional leave for the original reason within the 12-month period.

If the additional leave is for a different reason than the original leave, the employee must re-qualify.

Upon return from FMLA/CFRA leave, an employee must be restored to their original job or to an equivalent job with equivalent pay, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment and an employee’s use of FMLA/CFRA leave cannot be counted against the employee.

Employee must submit a “Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee to Return to Work” form to Human Resources prior to their return-to-work date (except for baby bonding, leave to care for a family member, and military leave of absence).

If the employee is covered by the University's health benefits before leave, coverage continues for the duration of leave as if still at work and the employee continues to pays their share of premium.

An employee may choose to not retain group health plan coverage, or coverage may lapse during FMLA/CFRA leave. However, when an employee returns from leave, the employee is entitled to be reinstated on the same terms as prior to taking the leave (if the leave was less than 120 days). If the leave was more than 120 days, the employee has a new period of initial eligibility (PIE) and can enroll in new benefits.

Per the contract or policy, the employee may have additional leave above state and federal laws.

It is unlawful to interfere with, restrain, or deny the exercise of or the attempt to exercise any right provided by FMLA and/or CFRA.

It is also unlawful for an employer to discharge or discriminate against any individual for opposing any practice, or because of involvement in any proceeding, related to FMLA/CFRA.

For additional questions or clarifications, use Find My HR Representative to contact your campus leave specialist. Health employees, please contact the Health Benefits and LOA team at 415-353-4545, option 2, or [email protected].