LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 849, as introduced, Swanson. Family and medical leave.
Existing law, the Moore-Brown-Roberti Family Rights Act, makes it
an unlawful employment practice for an employer, as defined, to
refuse to grant a request by an eligible employee to take up to 12
workweeks of unpaid protected leave during any 12-month period (1) to
bond with a child who was born to, adopted by, or placed for foster
care with, the employee, (2) to care for the employee's parent,
spouse, or child who has a serious health condition, as defined, or
(3) because the employee is suffering from a serious health condition
rendering him or her unable to perform the functions of the job.
Under the act, "child" means a biological, adopted, foster, or
stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in loco
parentis, who is either under 18 years of age or an adult dependent
child. The act defines "parent" to mean the employee's biological,
foster, or adoptive parent, stepparent, legal guardian, or other
person who stood in loco parentis to the employee when the employee
was a child.
This bill would increase the circumstances under which an employee
is entitled to protected leave pursuant to the Family Rights Act by
(1) eliminating the age and dependency elements from the definition
of "child," thereby permitting an employee to take protected leave to
care for his or her independent adult child suffering from a serious
health condition, (2) expanding the definition of "parent" to
include an employee's parent-in-law, and (3) permitting an employee
to also take leave to care for a seriously ill grandparent, sibling,
grandchild, or domestic partner, as defined.