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by Shannon N. Claire, J.D., Employment Law Subject Matter Expert, CalChamber
As summer winds down, California’s back-to-school season is already in full swing. Depending on the district, students may return to the classroom as early as late July or as late as post-Labor Day. While most of the state’s largest districts — including Los Angeles Unified, Oakland Unified, San Diego Unified, Sacramento City Unified and San Francisco Unified — begin classes in August, the varying school start dates mean that school-related obligations can emerge for employees weeks before many HR professionals are thinking about them.
Why does this matter to California employers? Working parents make up a substantial portion of California’s workforce. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2025, almost 92% of U.S. families with children under 18 years old had at least one employed parent, representing nearly 30 million families nationwide. As California students head back to school, HR professionals can expect employee requests related to school activities, disciplinary meetings, sick kids and childcare responsibilities.
As classrooms fill up again, it’s the perfect time for HR professionals to brush up on California’s child and school-related leave requirements and ensure their policies and practices are ready for the requests that are sure to follow.
When kids go back to school, they come home with homework, art projects and, all too often, illnesses. When that happens, employees often must take time off from work to care for their sick child.
Under California's Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act (HWHF), employers of all sizes must follow paid sick leave requirements, with limited exceptions. Employees who work in California for the same employer for 30 or more days within a year are eligible for five days or 40 hours (whichever is greater) of paid sick leave per year.
Employees may use paid sick leave not only for their own preventive care or diagnosis, care, or treatment of an existing health condition, but also for the diagnosis, care or treatment of a family member or “designated person.” "Family member" is broadly defined to include a child (including a stepchild or foster child), spouse, registered domestic partner, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild and sibling. A "designated person" means any person identified by the employee when requesting leave, but employers can limit this designation to one person per 12-month period.
When the need for leave is foreseeable, employees must provide reasonable advance notice. However, if the need for leave is unforeseeable, notice must be provided as soon as practicable, and working parents often have little or no notice when their children get sick.
Keep in mind that employers are not permitted to request a doctor’s note when an employee uses HWHF paid sick leave, even if they are absent for multiple days in a row. If an employer provides additional sick leave beyond what California (or certain local jurisdictions) require, they can still require documentation for the additional sick leave provided.
One important reminder: If an employer combines paid sick leave and other paid time off (such as vacation or PTO) into a single leave bank, all time in that combined bank may be subject to the same protections as paid sick leave. By contrast, maintaining separate paid sick leave and vacation benefits provides employers with greater flexibility in how vacation time is accrued and the parameters for when it can be used.
In addition to statewide mandatory paid sick leave, many California cities have enacted their own local sick leave ordinances, including:
Significant differences can exist between the state law and local laws. When state and local requirements conflict, employers must apply the rule that provides the greater benefit to the employee.
For example, West Hollywood takes a broader approach with their local ordinance, which requires employers to provide full-time employees with at least 96 hours of compensated leave, which can be used for sick time, vacation or personal necessity. If an employee exhausts their compensated hours, they are entitled to an additional 80 hours of uncompensated time for sick leave.
In addition, some locations, such as Long Beach, have enacted industry-specific minimum wage laws that also mandate additional sick leave for covered workers in those areas.
Consult with legal counsel to regularly review paid sick leave policies to ensure compliance with both state and local laws — especially if employees work remotely in jurisdictions other than their worksite or travel to different locations during the workday.
School Appearance Leave recognizes that schools may require a parent or guardian to appear at school if the child is subject to disciplinary action. As a result, all employers must provide an employee with unpaid time off to attend school when the employee's presence is required in connection with the child's suspension.
This requirement applies regardless of employer size. If an employee needs time off to appear at school because their child is being disciplined, the employer must permit the leave and may not interfere with the employee's ability to attend.
Employers may require employees to provide reasonable notice of the need for the leave, but no set timeframe can be required as the school usually sets any meetings or disciplinary proceedings. Employers can request documentation showing that the employee's presence at the school is required.
As with other protected school-related leaves, employees who take school appearance leave are protected from retaliation or other adverse employment actions for exercising their rights under the law.
Employees often want to take time off to participate in a child’s school- or childcare-related activities, such as teacher conferences, award ceremonies or school plays. They also may need time off to enroll their children in school or childcare, or to handle school- or childcare-related emergencies.
Applying to employers with 25 or more employees at the same location, School and Child Care Activity Leave allows eligible employees to take up to 40 hours of unpaid, protected time off each year to participate in school or childcare activities and address certain school- or childcare-related emergencies.
If an employee is the “parent” of a school-age child between kindergarten and 12th grade or a child enrolled with a licensed childcare provider, they are eligible for school and childcare activity leave. For this leave, a parent is broadly defined to include parents, guardians, stepparents, foster parents, grandparents and anyone standing in loco parentis (fulfilling the role of a parent) to a child.
Using this protected time off, employees can:
Employees must provide reasonable advance notice when the need for leave is foreseeable.
They may also take time off to address school or childcare emergencies, which occur when a child cannot remain at school or with a childcare provider due to:
Employers may limit school and childcare activities leave to eight hours per month and 40 hours per year. However, emergency situations are not subject to the monthly cap on hours.
Employers also may require employees to use accrued vacation or other available paid time off (excluding HWHF sick leave) while taking the leave. If both parents work for the same employer, the employer is only required to provide leave to one parent at a time.
To verify an employee's use of the leave, employers may require documentation from the school or childcare provider confirming the employee participated in a covered activity. Any written verification the school or childcare provider considers appropriate and reasonable will satisfy this requirement.
As with other protected leaves, employers may not take adverse action against an employee for exercising their right to school and childcare activities leave. Before denying a request for leave or taking disciplinary action against an employee who has requested or used the leave, employers should carefully evaluate their obligations under the law.
Under certain circumstances, an employee may need leave when the employee’s spouse, child or parent is on — or has been called to— covered active duty. Military exigency leave is available under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA and Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)). CFRA provides broader family-member coverage than the FMLA.
"Qualifying military exigencies" cover a variety of circumstances that may arise before or during a family member's military service, including childcare and school-related activities, such as arranging for alternative childcare, providing childcare on an urgent basis, enrolling or transferring schools or day care, and attending school or daycare meetings. The CFRA/FMLA — Family Member Leave for a Qualifying Exigency describes the types of events that give an eligible employee a reason for leave because of a qualifying exigency under the CFRA/FMLA.
School-related leave laws can sometimes create the perception that employees with children receive more flexibility than employees without children. Employees without children may feel they are taking on additional work when coworkers are away attending school activities or handling childcare-related issues.
Ultimately, employers must provide leave when required by law. School and childcare activities leave, school appearance leave and paid sick leave are all examples of protected absences that employers generally cannot deny when employees meet the legal requirements.
That does not mean employees without children are left without protected leaves. For example, regardless of parental status, all employees that meet the eligibility requirements are entitled to paid sick leave under the HWHF, family and medical leave under CFRA and the FMLA and many other leaves.
Though employees are entitled to many protected leaves for certain circumstances, employers are not required to approve every request for time off, a flexible schedule or a remote work arrangement simply because an employee prefers it. Employers should apply their policies consistently and treat similarly situated employees the same — regardless of whether the employee is also a parent.
For example, if an employer allows a parent time off for a nonprotected activity, such as attending a child's weekend competition or other personal event, be prepared to evaluate similar requests from employees without children using the same standards. Likewise, vacation requests should be handled according to a consistent policy. A request to take time off during a child's school break should not automatically receive greater consideration than a request to take time off for another personal reason.
When employees raise concerns about fairness, take the time to explain employer policies and how leave requests are evaluated. Clear communication and consistent decision-making can go a long way toward reducing misunderstandings and workplace tension.
As a new school year is ushered in, California employers should do the following: