Section 3300 Of Chapter 7. Paid Family Leave From California Unemployment Insurance Code >> Division 1. >> Part 2. >> Chapter 7.
3300
. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) It is in the public benefit to provide family temporary
disability insurance benefits to workers to care for their family
members. The need for family temporary disability insurance benefits
has intensified as the participation of both parents in the workforce
has increased, and the number of single parents in the workforce has
grown. The need for partial wage replacement for workers taking
family care leave will be exacerbated as the population of those
needing care, both children and parents of workers, increases in
relation to the number of working age adults.
(b) Family Temporary Disability Insurance shall be known as Paid
Family Leave.
(c) Developing systems that help families adapt to the competing
interests of work and home not only benefits workers, but also
benefits employers by increasing worker productivity and reducing
employee turnover.
(d) The federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and California'
s Family Rights Act (CFRA) entitle eligible employees working for
covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for up to 12
workweeks in a 12-month period. Under the FMLA and the CFRA, unpaid
leave may be taken for the birth, adoption, or foster placement of a
new child; to care for a seriously ill child, parent, or spouse; or
for the employee's own serious health condition.
(e) State disability insurance benefits currently provide wage
replacement for workers who need time off due to their own
nonwork-related injuries, illnesses, or conditions, including
pregnancy, that prevent them from working, but do not cover leave to
care for a sick or injured child, spouse, parent, grandparent,
grandchild, sibling, or domestic partner, or leave to bond with a new
child.
(f) The majority of workers in this state are unable to take
family care leave because they are unable to afford leave without
pay. When workers do not receive some form of wage replacement during
family care leave, families suffer from the worker's loss of income,
increasing the demand on the state unemployment insurance system and
dependence on the state's welfare system.
(g) It is the intent of the Legislature to create a family
temporary disability insurance program to help reconcile the demands
of work and family. The family temporary disability insurance program
shall be a component of the state's unemployment compensation
disability insurance program, shall be funded through employee
contributions, and shall be administered in accordance with the
policies of the state disability insurance program created pursuant
to this part. Initial and ongoing administrative costs associated
with the family temporary disability insurance program shall be
payable from the Disability Fund.