Qualifying Exigency

Use the leave interaction information and timeline below to help determine the relationships among the various state-mandated leaves of absence and benefits during time off. The types of leave and benefits include:

• CFRA - California Family Rights Act
• FMLA - Family and Medical Leave Act
• PDL - Pregnancy Disability Leave
• PFL- Paid Family Leave
• SDI - State Disability Insurance

Both the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) and the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provide leave for qualifying exigencies related to military service. The CFRA covers employers with five or more employees and the FMLA covers those with 50 or more employees. Eligible employees must meet all of the following:

• Have worked for you for 12 months; and
• Have worked for you for 1,250 hours in the 12 months prior to the need for the leave; and
• For FMLA only, work at a location with 50 or more employees in a 75-mile radius

Eligible employees are entitled to up to 12 weeks of FMLA and/or CFRA leave because of "any qualifying exigency" arising because the spouse, son, daughter, parent or, under CFRA only, registered domestic partner of the employee is on covered active duty or call to covered active duty status.

For employers covered by both the FMLA and CFRA, this leave may run concurrently, unless the leave is related to the military service of the employee’s registered domestic partner, in which case it will be CFRA only. Additionally, for employers with 5-49 employees, the leave will be CFRA only because those employers are not covered by the FMLA.

Employees taking leave for a qualifying exigency may be eligible for Paid Family Leave (PFL) benefits for a maximum of eight weeks. PFL is only a wage replacement benefit; it is not a protected leave of absence.

To read more about leave for a qualifying exigency, see FMLA and CFRA Qualifying Reasons.