A Closer Look at Victims' Leave in 2025

That trend continues in 2025 with the expansion of California’s victims’ leave and accommodation requirements. Assembly Bill 2499 (AB 2499) revised and recast the state’s victims’ leave law, moving it from the Labor Code to the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), meaning the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) now has enforcement authority in this area. It also similarly moved jury and witness duty leave.

While employers’ obligations to provide leave for jury duty or witness service effectively remain the same, California’s requirements to provide leave and reasonable accommodations for victims of violence underwent significant changes that will impact employers’ policies and practices in 2025.

A Broader Definition of Victim

To start, California broadened who qualifies as a victim under the law. The law defines a victim as an individual who suffers a “qualifying act of violence,” which includes domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking, all of which were covered by previous law, but also any act in which an individual:

• Causes bodily injury or death to another individual.
• Exhibits, draws, brandishes, or uses a firearm or other dangerous weapon, with respect to another individual.
• Uses, or makes a reasonably perceived or actual threat to use, force against another individual to cause physical injury or death.

All of these are qualifying acts of violence, regardless of whether anyone is arrested, prosecuted or convicted of committing any crime.

As was previously required under the law, employers must allow employees who are victims time off to obtain, or attempt to obtain, relief such as restraining orders or other court-ordered relief to help ensure the health and safety of themselves or their child.

Expanded Leave Obligations for Employers with 25 or More Employees

In addition to broadening who qualifies as a victim, AB 2499 significantly expanded leave obligations of employers with 25 or more employees. As under previous law, employers with 25 or more employees must provide leave to employees who are victims for medical treatment and other purposes directly related to the act of violence. AB 2499, however, expanded the reasons for which leave can be taken and allows employees, who are not victims themselves, to take time off to help family members who are victims, including a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, domestic partner or a “designated person,” who is any individual related by blood “or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship.” An employer may limit an employee to one designated person per 12-month period for purposes of victims’ leave.

Employers with 25 or more employees must now provide leave to employees who are victims of, or who have a family member who is a victim of, a qualifying act of violence to do any of the following:

• Obtain or attempt to obtain any relief for the family member, including a temporary restraining order, restraining order or other injunctive relief, to help ensure the health, safety or welfare of the family member of the victim.
• Seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain medical attention for or to recover from injuries caused by a qualifying act of violence.
• Seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain services from a domestic violence shelter, program, rape crisis center, or victim services organization or agency as a result of a qualifying act of violence.
• Seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain psychological counseling or mental health services related to an experience of a qualifying act of violence.
• Participate in safety planning or take other actions to increase safety from future qualifying acts of violence.
• Relocate or engage in the process of securing a new residence due to the qualifying act of violence, including, but not limited to, securing temporary or permanent housing or enrolling children in a new school or childcare.
• Provide care to a family member who is recovering from injuries caused by a qualifying act of violence.
• Seek, obtain, or assist a family member to seek or obtain civil or criminal legal services in relation to the qualifying act of violence.
• Prepare for, participate in or attend any civil, administrative or criminal legal proceeding related to the qualifying act of violence.
• Seek, obtain, or provide childcare or care to a care-dependent adult if the childcare or care is necessary to ensure the safety of the child or dependent adult as a result of the qualifying act of violence.

Requesting Leave, Duration and Documentation

The process of requesting leave is essentially the same as it was under prior law. Employees must give reasonable advance notice of their intent to take time off, if feasible. Employees who cannot give reasonable advance notice may not be disciplined or discharged if they can provide certification of the need for leave within a reasonable time, which may include a police report, court order, documentation from a medical or other professional, or any other form of documentation that reasonably verifies the act of violence occurred, including a written statement submitted by the employee.

Victims’ leave is generally unpaid. Employees can, however, choose to use accrued paid sick time, vacation or other time off available to them during this leave. This includes paid sick leave under the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act (HWHF), which raises an issue with documentation. As California employers know, they cannot require a doctor’s note to support the use of sick leave under HWHF. As such, if an employee is using HWHF time for victims’ leave, employers should follow HWHF documentation practices.

Employers may limit the total leave taken to 12 weeks. The time off will run concurrently with leave under the CFRA and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) if the employee is eligible for that leave.

If an employee is taking leave for a family member who is a victim (i.e., the employee isn’t the victim), and the family member is not deceased, the employer may limit the total leave taken to 10 days, but if the leave is for relocation purposes, the employer may limit it to five days.

Reasonable Accommodation for Safety

Just as they did under prior law, employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations for an employee who is a victim of a qualifying act of violence and requests an accommodation for their safety while working. Under AB 2499, however, employers must also provide accommodations for an employee whose family member is a victim of a qualifying act of violence.

Notice Requirements

Employers will have new notice requirements this year. By July 1, 2025, the CRD must publish a new notice — Survivors of Violence and Family Members of Victims Rights Leave and Accommodations — detailing employees’ protections under the law. Once published, employers must provide the notice:

• To employees upon hire;
• To all employees annually;
• At any time upon request; and
• Any time an employee informs an employer that the employee or employee’s family member is a victim.

Employer Takeaways

Employers should review their leaves of absence policies and make any necessary changes to ensure they are in line with the revisions to the law. Employers can use CalChamber’s Victims’ Leave Checklist to help with their review.

As employers review the new requirements, they should keep in mind that the circumstances that might give rise to the need for leave under this law may implicate other laws as well. For example, as previously mentioned, the California HWHA specifically allows employees to use their HWHF paid sick time for victims’ leave purposes.

Additionally, if the employee or their family member is injured to the point that they have a serious health condition, the employee may be eligible for CFRA and/or FMLA leave. The employee may also be eligible for bereavement leave if a family member dies because of the act of violence.

Lastly, if there is an act of violence in the workplace or even circumstances that could give rise to an act or threat of violence in the workplace, employers have obligations under California’s workplace violence prevention law, effective since July 1, 2024. These include, for example, following their workplace violence prevention plan procedures for identifying, evaluating and correcting workplace violence hazards, responding to and investigating incidents and taking appropriate corrective action, followed by revising their plan and training their employees.