CFRA Leave Denied? California Family Leave Rules and How to Push Back

Who qualifies for CFRA leave in California?

You qualify if three things are true (Gov. Code section 12945.2(a) and (b)(4)):

• Your employer directly employs five or more people, or is a public employer.
• You have more than 12 months of service with that employer.
• You worked at least 1,250 hours for that employer in the previous 12 months. Separate rules apply to airline flight crews.

If you meet those tests, the employer must grant up to 12 workweeks of leave in a 12-month period. The leave can be taken in one block or in more than one period, which covers recurring treatment appointments. CFRA leave runs at the same time as federal FMLA leave when both apply.

What reasons and family members does CFRA cover?

CFRA covers four reasons: bonding with a new child (by birth, adoption, or a placement in your care), your own serious health condition, caring for a family member with a serious health condition, and a qualifying military exigency involving a spouse, domestic partner, child or parent.

The family members you can care for are a child, parent (including a parent-in-law), grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, domestic partner or designated person. A designated person is anyone related by blood or whose association with you is the equivalent of a family relationship. You can name that person when you request leave, and the employer may limit you to one designated person per 12-month period.

A serious health condition means an illness, injury, impairment or condition involving inpatient care or continuing treatment or supervision by a health care provider.

Other California leaves that sit beside CFRA

CFRA is one of several protected leaves. Each has its own rules, and some can be stacked.

All four use the same five-employee threshold. Pregnancy disability leave is in addition to CFRA, so a worker may be able to take pregnancy disability leave and then CFRA bonding leave. Bereavement and reproductive loss leave may be unpaid unless the employer has a paid policy, but you can use available vacation or sick time.

What can the employer ask for before approving leave?

The employer can ask for reasonable advance notice when the need is foreseeable, and a certification from the health care provider. It cannot demand your relative's full medical file.

For a family member's condition, the certification is sufficient if it gives the date the condition began, its probable duration, an estimate of the time you are needed, and a statement that the condition warrants a family member's participation in care (section 12945.2(i)). For your own condition, it must state that you cannot perform the functions of your position. If the employer doubts your own certification, it can require a second opinion at its expense.

CFRA leave does not have to be paid, though you may choose, or be required, to use accrued vacation or other paid time off. The employer must keep your group health coverage in place for up to 12 workweeks of leave.

When is a CFRA denial unlawful?

A denial is unlawful when you qualify and the leave is for a covered reason. Section 12945.2 also makes three related acts unlawful:

• Interference: restraining or denying the exercise of, or the attempt to exercise, a CFRA right (section 12945.2(q)). The rule covers attempts to take leave, not only leave already underway.
• Retaliation: discharging, fining, suspending or discriminating against someone for taking CFRA leave or for giving information about it (section 12945.2(k)).
• Failure to restore: leave is not treated as granted unless the employer gives a promise of the same or a comparable position on return, meaning similar duties and pay at a similar location.

If a denial was followed by discipline or termination, our guide to workplace retaliation explains how timing evidence is used, and the guide to wrongful termination in California covers firings more broadly.

How to respond when your CFRA leave is denied

You can answer a denial in writing before anyone files a complaint. Work through these steps in order:

1. Ask for the denial and the reason in writing if you only heard it verbally.
2. Confirm the three eligibility facts with your own records: headcount, hire date and hours in the last 12 months (pay stubs show hours).
3. Put your request in writing, naming the reason (for example, care for a parent with a serious health condition) and the dates or schedule you need.
4. Offer a health care provider certification with the four items the statute lists, and nothing more.
5. Keep copies of every message, and note the dates of any discipline, schedule change or attendance points after the request.
6. Send a short follow-up letter citing section 12945.2 and asking for a written answer by a set date.

What if the employer still says no?

CFRA claims are enforced through the Civil Rights Department (CRD). You must submit an intake form within three years of the violation (Gov. Code section 12960), and you need a right-to-sue notice before filing your own lawsuit on the claim. After the notice, you generally have one year to file in court.

The CRD can investigate, and it may require mediation before any lawsuit it files. If you were fired after asking for leave, other claims and deadlines may also apply, and a lawyer can sort out which ones fit.

When an attorney-written leave letter makes sense

A CFRA request is tied to a date that will not move: the surgery, the due date, the funeral. Having an attorney write your response can help when the employer disputes your eligibility, when HR has stopped answering, when you were disciplined after asking, or when you need to return to work and the job is gone. If the leave involves your own medical condition, our guide to disability accommodation at work covers leave as an accommodation once CFRA time runs out.

With Talk to My Lawyer, a licensed California attorney writes your letter from your facts and documents (your leave request, pay records and the employer's replies) and sends it on your behalf.