Paid family leave.

(1) Existing law authorizes the Employment Development Department to administer the disability insurance compensation program, which includes family temporary disability insurance benefits or paid family leave. Existing law requires the department to develop a certification form for an employee taking leave to bond with a minor child within the first year of the child's birth or placement in connection with foster care or adoption. Commencing February 1, 2025, this bill would instead require the department to develop a certification form for an employee taking leave to bond with a minor child within one year of the child's birth, placement of the child in connection with foster care or adoption, or an individual's assumption of responsibilities for the child in loco parentis. (2) Under existing law, the family temporary disability insurance program provides up to 8 weeks of wage replacement benefits to workers who take time off work to care for a seriously ill child, spouse, parent, domestic partner, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or parent-in-law, to bond with a minor child within one year of the birth or placement of the child in connection with foster care or adoption, or who take time off 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. Existing law defines certain terms for these purposes. Existing law provides that a worker is not eligible for those benefits in specified circumstances, including, among others, if another family member is ready, willing, and able and available for the same period of time in a day that the individual is providing care or participating in the above-described qualifying exigency, as specified. Existing law authorizes an employer to require a worker to take up to 2 weeks of earned but unused vacation leave before receiving benefits under the program. Commencing February 1, 2025, this bill would expand the program to provide benefits to workers who take time off work to bond with a minor child within one year of assuming responsibilities of a child in loco parentis, as defined. For periods of disability commencing on or after February 1, 2025, the bill would prohibit the application of the above-described eligibility restriction relating to another family member being ready, willing, and able and available for the same period of time. For periods of disability commencing on or after February 1, 2025, the bill would prohibit the application of the authorization for an employer to require a worker to take vacation leave before receiving benefits. The bill would make conforming changes. (3) Under existing law, workers are required to pay contributions to the Unemployment Compensation Disability Fund, a special fund in the State Treasury, and those funds are continuously appropriated for the purpose of providing disability benefits and making payment of administrative expenses. By authorizing expenditure of these funds for a new purpose, this bill would make an appropriation. (4) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 2708 of the Unemployment Insurance Code proposed by SB 667 to be operative only if this bill and SB 667 are enacted and this bill is enacted last. (5) This bill would incorporate additional substantive changes to Sections 3301, 3302, and 3303 of the Unemployment Insurance Code proposed by AB 518 to be operative only if this bill and AB 518 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.