Amended
IN
Assembly
August 20, 2018 |
Amended
IN
Senate
April 26, 2018 |
Amended
IN
Senate
March 22, 2018 |
Senate Bill | No. 1123 |
Introduced by Senator Jackson (Coauthor: Assembly Member Gonzalez Fletcher) |
February 13, 2018 |
(a)(1)The purpose of this chapter is to establish, within the state disability insurance program, a family temporary disability insurance program. Family temporary disability insurance shall provide up to six weeks of wage replacement benefits to workers who take time off work to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or domestic partner, or to bond with a minor child within one year of the birth or placement of the child in connection with foster care or adoption.
(2)Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to abridge the rights and responsibilities conveyed under the CFRA or pregnancy disability leave.
(b)An individual’s “weekly benefit amount” shall be the amount provided in Section 2655. An individual is eligible to receive family temporary disability insurance benefits equal to one-seventh of his or her weekly benefit amount for each full day during which he or she is unable to work due to caring for a seriously ill or injured family member, bonding with a minor child within one year of the birth or placement of the child in connection with foster care or adoption, or participating in a qualifying exigency related to the covered active duty or call to covered active duty of the individual’s spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent in the armed forces of the United States.
(c)The maximum amount payable to an individual during any disability benefit period for family
temporary disability insurance shall be six times his or her “weekly benefit amount,” but in no case shall the total amount of benefits payable be more than the total wages paid to the individual during his or her disability base period. If the benefit is not a multiple of one dollar ($1), it shall be computed to the next higher multiple of one dollar ($1).
(d)No more than six weeks of family temporary disability insurance benefits shall be paid within any 12-month period.
(e)An individual shall file a claim for family temporary disability insurance benefits not later than the 41st consecutive day following the first compensable day with respect to which the claim is made for benefits, which time shall be extended by the
department upon a showing of good cause. If a first claim is not complete, the claim form shall be returned to the claimant for completion and it shall be completed and returned not later than the 10th consecutive day after the date it was mailed by the department to the claimant, except that such time shall be extended by the department upon a showing of good cause.
For purposes of this chapter:
(a)“Covered active duty” means, with respect to a member of the regular armed forces of the United States, duty during the deployment of the member with the regular armed forces to a foreign country and, with respect to a member of the reserve components of the armed forces of the United States, duty during the deployment of the member of those reserve components to a foreign country under a federal call or order to active duty.
(b)“Disability benefit period” with respect to any individual, means the period of unemployment beginning with the first day an individual
establishes a valid claim for family temporary disability insurance benefits to care for a seriously ill family member, to bond with a minor child during the first year after the birth or placement of the child in connection with foster care or adoption, or to participate in a qualifying exigency related to the covered active duty or call to covered active duty of the individual’s spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent in the armed forces of the United States.
(1)Periods of family care leave for the same care recipient within a 12-month period shall be considered one disability benefit period.
(2)Periods of disability for pregnancy, as defined in Section 2608, and periods of family care leave for bonding associated with the birth of that child shall be considered one
disability benefit period.
(f)This section shall become operative on July 1, 2014.
(a)On and after July 1, 2014, only if the director makes both of the findings described in subdivision (b), an individual shall be deemed eligible for family temporary disability insurance benefits equal to one-seventh of his or her weekly benefit amount on any day in which he or she is unable to perform his or her regular or customary work because of any of the following:
(1)The individual is bonding with a minor child during the first year after the birth or placement of the child in connection with foster care or adoption.
(2)The individual is caring for a seriously ill child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling,
spouse, or domestic partner.
(3)The individual is participating in a qualifying exigency related to the covered active duty or call to covered active duty of the individual’s spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent in the armed forces of the United States.
(b)An individual shall be deemed eligible for family temporary disability insurance benefits described in subdivision (a) only if the directors finds both of the following:
(1)The individual has made a claim for temporary disability benefits as required by authorized regulations.
(2)The individual has filed a certificate, as required by Sections 2708 and 2709, or for purposes of participating in a qualifying
exigency related to the covered active duty or call to covered active duty of the individual’s spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent in the armed forces of the United States, has provided the information requested pursuant to Section 3307.
(a)An individual is not eligible for family temporary disability insurance benefits with respect to any day that any of the following apply:
(1)The individual has received, or is entitled to receive, unemployment compensation benefits under Part 1 (commencing with Section 100) or under an unemployment compensation act of any other state or of the federal government.
(2)The individual has received, or is entitled to receive, “other benefits” in the form of cash benefits as defined in Section 2629.
(3)The individual has
received, or is entitled to receive, state disability insurance benefits under Part 2 (commencing with Section 2601) or under a disability insurance act of any other state.
(4)Another family member, as defined in Section 3302, is ready, willing, and able and available for the same period of time in a day that the individual is providing the required care or participating in a qualifying exigency related to the covered active duty or call to covered active duty of the individual’s spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent in the armed forces of the United States.
(b)An individual who is entitled to leave under the FMLA and the CFRA shall take Family Temporary Disability Insurance (FTDI) leave concurrent with leave taken under the FMLA and the CFRA.
(c)As a condition of an employee’s initial receipt of family temporary disability insurance benefits during any 12-month period in which an employee is eligible for these benefits, an employer may require an employee to take up to two weeks of earned but unused vacation leave prior to the employee’s initial receipt of these benefits. If an employer so requires an employee to take vacation leave, that portion of the vacation leave that does not exceed one week shall be applied to the waiting period required under subdivision (b) of Section 3303. This subdivision may not be construed in a manner that relieves an employer of any duty of collective bargaining the employer may have with respect to the subject matter of this subdivision.
(b)This section shall become operative on January 1, 2018.