New Year Brings Changes to California’s Victims Leave of Absence Law

Current California law provides protection for employees who are victims of certain crimes and need to take time away from work. Effective Jan. 1, 2025, California Assembly Bill 2499 makes five new changes to this law, including:  

• Expanding the reasons for which leave can be taken 
• Clarifying the crimes and actions which qualify for leave 
• Adding leave when family members are victims 
• Limiting total entitlement and concurrency of leave
• Implementing notice requirements

More information about each of these changes is detailed below. 

Additional Leave Reasons for Certain Employees 

The bill expands the reasons for which leave can be taken. Employers with 25 or more employees cannot discharge, discriminate or retaliate against an employee who is a victim, or who has a family member that is a victim, for taking time off for the following purposes: 

• To obtain or attempt to obtain any relief for the family member; relief includes, but is not limited to, 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 
• To 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 
• To 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 
• To 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 
• To participate in safety planning or take other actions to increase safety from future qualifying acts of violence 
• To 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 child care 
• To provide care to a family member who is recovering from injuries caused by a qualifying act of violence 
• To seek, obtain or assist a family member to seek or obtain civil or criminal legal services in relation to the qualifying act of violence 
• To prepare for, participate in, or attend any civil, administrative or criminal legal proceeding related to the qualifying act of violence 
• To seek, obtain or provide child care or care to a care-dependent adult if the child care or care is necessary to ensure the safety of the child or dependent adult as a result of the qualifying act of violence  

Amended Definition of Covered Crimes and Actions 

The bill modifies the definition of the crimes and actions which qualify for leave. It now uses the term “qualifying acts of violence” which is defined as any of the following, regardless of whether anyone is arrested for, prosecuted for, or convicted of committing any crime: 

• Domestic violence 
• Sexual assault 
• Stalking 
• An act, conduct or pattern of conduct that includes any of the following 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 

Leave When a Family Member Is the Victim 

The bill outlines that leave can now be taken when the employee’s family member is the victim of a specified crime or action. Family member under the law means a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, domestic partner or designated person. Designated person is defined as any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. The designated person may be identified by the employee at the time the employee requests the leave, and employers may limit an employee to one designated person per 12-month period. 

Amount and Concurrency of Leave 

The bill places limits on the amount of time that can be taken, in certain cases. Employers with 25 or more employees can limit the amount of leave taken for specified purposes up to a total of 12 weeks. Leave taken when the family member is a victim, but not deceased, can be limited to 10 days. Also, leave taken when the family member is a victim for the purposes of relocating or enrolling in a new school or child care is limited to five days. The bill also clarifies that leave taken under this law will run concurrently with leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA, and California Family Rights Act, or CFRA, if the employee would have been eligible for those leaves.   

Notice Requirements 

The bill notes that the state is developing a model notice outlining the rights and duties of employers and employees under the law, which will be available on or before July 1, 2025. Once this model notice is available, employers will be required to inform employees in writing under the following circumstances: 

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

Be sure to stay up to date with the latest legislative and compliance updates. If you have questions about how The Standard can help, please contact the local employee benefits sales and service office for your area.