How do CFRA, pregnancy disability leave and paid sick leave fit together in California?

California has three leave laws that most small employers meet in the same month: an employee is sick, then pregnant, then out with a newborn. Each has its own threshold, length and rules, and they are designed to stack. Here is how they fit.

What does paid sick leave require?

Every employer with at least one employee in California provides paid sick leave (Labor Code 246). The current minimums:

• At least 40 hours or five days a year, either given up front or earned at one hour for every 30 hours worked.
• Employers may cap use at 40 hours or five days a year and total accrual at 80 hours or 10 days.
• Employees can use leave starting on their 90th day of employment.
• Unused accrued leave carries over; it does not have to be paid out at separation if it is kept separate from vacation.

Several Bay Area cities, including Oakland, San Francisco, Berkeley and Emeryville, have their own sick leave ordinances. Where the city rule is more generous, it wins.

What is pregnancy disability leave?

At five employees, an employee disabled by pregnancy, childbirth or a related condition can take up to four months of leave per pregnancy, with no minimum length of service (Government Code 12945). “Disabled” is defined broadly: severe morning sickness, prenatal care, bed rest and recovery from childbirth all qualify. The employer continues group health coverage during the leave and returns the employee to the same position in most cases. I check what leave tracking software actually documents in my compliance software guide.

What does CFRA cover?

The California Family Rights Act also applies at five employees (Government Code 12945.2). An employee with at least 12 months of service and 1,250 hours in the past year can take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave in a 12-month period to:

• Recover from their own serious health condition.
• Care for a child, parent, spouse, domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, parent-in-law or a designated person with a serious health condition.
• Bond with a new child within a year of birth, adoption or foster placement.
• Handle a qualifying military exigency.

Group health coverage continues during CFRA leave, and the employee returns to the same or a comparable job.

How do they stack?

CFRA does not cover pregnancy disability, so the two run separately. An employee can take up to four months of pregnancy disability leave and then 12 weeks of CFRA bonding leave: about seven months of job-protected leave for one pregnancy. At 50 employees, the federal FMLA also applies and generally runs at the same time as the state leave rather than adding to it.

These leaves are unpaid by the employer unless your policy says otherwise. Employees can apply for partial wage replacement through the state’s Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave programs, run by the Employment Development Department. They can also use accrued sick leave or vacation, which some policies require.

Where do small employers go wrong?

• Missing the threshold: a business crosses five employees and nobody updates the handbook.
• Stopping health coverage during pregnancy disability leave.
• Counting pregnancy disability leave against the CFRA bank.
• Treating an employee’s use of protected leave as a performance problem. That is the fastest route to a retaliation claim.

A current California employee handbook with the right leave policies is the first fix. See which California HR laws apply at your headcount for the other rules that start at five, and read how to handle a termination before one touches an employee on or returning from leave.

For how paid sick leave fits into a written attendance policy, see my guide to attendance and scheduling for employees who ride transit.

Bereavement leave is a separate right that now reaches a chosen family member; see designated person bereavement leave.

McKinley holds a J.D. but is not a licensed attorney. Articles here are general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, talk with an employment attorney.

Data current as of September 2026. Sources are linked where each figure appears.