In situations where employees have a condition that requires medical leave, California law usually brings two statutes into view: the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). Both laws can protect the same period of time away from work or apply separately, depending on employer size and the reason for leave. Employees who qualify under both statutes need clear rules on when FMLA and CFRA run together and when one still has time available for a later medical issue or family need.
FMLA is a federal law that gives eligible employees up to twelve workweeks of unpaid leave in a twelve-month period, with job protection and continued group health coverage under the same terms that applied before leave. CFRA is a California law that also gives up to twelve workweeks of unpaid family and medical leave in a twelve-month period and uses its own definitions for covered employers, employees, and family members.
FMLA generally covers private employers with at least fifty employees within a seventy-five-mile radius, along with public agencies and public schools. CFRA covers California employers with at least five employees, along with public employers in the state.
The CFRA can fill the 45-employee gap to help those working for small employers still take advantage of leave benefits.
Employees need to meet similar service and hours thresholds for both laws. Each law generally requires at least twelve months of service with the employer, which can be non-consecutive, and at least 1,250 hours worked during the twelve months before leave starts.
Concurrency only becomes an issue when the employer falls under both statutes and the employee meets both sets of eligibility rules.
FMLA and CFRA both cover:
CFRA goes further for family relationships, which changes whether a period of leave draws from one bank or both.
Concurrent leave means a single period of absence counts against the twelve-week FMLA bank and the twelve-week CFRA bank at the same time. Federal regulations say that when one absence meets the requirements of FMLA and a state family and medical leave law, the time counts against both entitlements. California’s CFRA statute ties into that rule by stating that CFRA leave runs together with FMLA leave, except in pregnancy disability situations that sit outside CFRA.
Employees in California can use FMLA and CFRA leave for a serious health condition that keeps them from performing their job. Federal law defines a serious health condition as one that involves inpatient care or continuing treatment by a health care provider, and CFRA regulations use similar concepts.
When your medical condition meets both definitions and your employer falls under both laws, time away from work usually reduces the FMLA bank and the CFRA bank in step. A six-week leave for surgery and recovery at a large California employer would normally count as six weeks under FMLA and six weeks under CFRA, not twelve.
Employees may also take FMLA and CFRA leave to care for certain close relatives with a serious health condition. FMLA covers care for a spouse, child, or parent. CFRA covers those same relationships and adds more, yet when the family member is a spouse, child, or parent and you meet all eligibility rules, both laws usually run together for that caregiving period.
Birth, adoption, or foster placement creates a right to bonding leave under both laws, separate from pregnancy disability leave. FMLA allows parental leave in the first year after birth or placement. CFRA provides bonding leave in the first year as well.
At employers covered by both laws, and for workers who meet both eligibility tests, bonding leave usually draws from FMLA and CFRA at one time unless pregnancy disability has already used up the FMLA bank. See the "Pregnancy Disability Leave And CFRA Bonding" section below.
FMLA provides leave for specific “qualifying exigencies” tied to covered active duty of a spouse, child, or parent. CFRA now allows leave for certain military-related reasons tied to a spouse, registered domestic partner, child, or parent.
Where the reason and family relationship meet both sets of rules, time away normally runs concurrently under FMLA and CFRA.
Concurrency stops as soon as one law covers a situation and the other does not. CFRA’s expanded family list and California’s separate pregnancy disability rules create the clearest situations where one period of leave only touches a single bank.
FMLA allows family care leave for a spouse, child, or parent, with limited expansion in certain in loco parentis situations. CFRA defines “family member” much more broadly. State law and regulations list:
A designated person can be someone related by blood or a person whose relationship with you functions like family, and employers may limit workers to one designated person per twelve-month period.
Leave to care for a grandparent, grandchild, sibling, domestic partner, parent-in-law, or designated person counts as CFRA leave and usually does not qualify for FMLA, so your federal bank stays intact while the CFRA bank drops. CFRA’s broader coverage allows you to use leave for extended family while keeping FMLA available later for your own serious health condition or for other FMLA-covered family members.
California treats pregnancy disability differently from baby-bonding. Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) gives up to four months of job-protected leave when a worker is disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition. FMLA treats pregnancy-related disability as a serious health condition, so PDL and FMLA usually run together for eligible workers at covered employers.
CFRA does not treat pregnancy-related disability as CFRA leave. CFRA bonding leave starts after pregnancy disability ends and covers bonding time during the first year after birth, adoption, or foster placement. Guidance from state agencies describes a standard sequence where PDL and FMLA run together while you are disabled, then CFRA bonding starts later and may extend protected time well beyond twelve weeks, because CFRA bonding uses its own twelve-week block that does not depend on remaining FMLA time.
FMLA includes a special military caregiver entitlement that allows up to twenty-six workweeks of leave in a single twelve-month period to care for a covered servicemember with a serious injury or illness. CFRA still uses a twelve-week annual cap for family and medical leave.
When you take FMLA military caregiver leave that goes past twelve workweeks, extra weeks sit entirely under FMLA. CFRA may cover the first twelve weeks if the situation meets CFRA definitions, yet CFRA does not stretch to match the full twenty-six-week federal caregiver period.
Concurrency never starts when only one law covers the employer or the worker. Smaller California employers with at least five employees but fewer than fifty employees within a seventy-five-mile radius fall under CFRA but not FMLA. Workers at those employers can use CFRA without touching any FMLA bank.
Workers at large employers outside California may sit under FMLA without any CFRA coverage. Federal guidance also makes clear that employers cannot count state leave that covers non-FMLA events against the federal bank, so state-only leave for a non-FMLA reason does not reduce FMLA entitlement.
Concurrency depends heavily on how an employer classifies leave. Federal and state rules assign clear notice and tracking duties, and mistakes in those steps change how much protected leave remains available.
FMLA regulations require employers to give workers written notice once leave is designated as FMLA-qualifying and to state how much leave will count against the FMLA bank. CFRA guidance from the California Civil Rights Department expects employers to give information about CFRA rights, available CFRA leave, any medical certification requirement, and how CFRA interacts with FMLA, PDL, and paid family leave programs in California.
Public-sector manuals in California describe FMLA and CFRA as one shared twelve-week entitlement for overlapping events, with pregnancy disability and military caregiver leave as key exceptions. Workers at employers covered by both laws usually receive letters that state whether leave counts under FMLA, CFRA, or both, identify the start date, and explain how the employer measures the twelve-month period for tracking purposes.
Employers need accurate records for how much FMLA and CFRA leave each worker has used and how much remains. Recordkeeping problems show up in real cases more than workers realize.
Employment practitioners in California regularly see errors where HR treats CFRA-only family relationships, like grandparents or designated persons, as FMLA family members and wrongly reduces the federal bank. Another recurring issue appears when HR counts PDL and CFRA bonding as one continuous twelve-week block instead of recognizing that PDL with FMLA and CFRA bonding use separate entitlements.
Workers usually uncover those problems when they receive a denial for additional leave, a notice that job protection has ended earlier than expected, or a warning about health coverage.
You can take a few straightforward steps to protect FMLA and CFRA rights and catch concurrency mistakes.
Workers who are pregnant or planning parental leave benefit from mapping out PDL, FMLA, and CFRA bonding with HR or with an employment attorney in advance, since the order and overlap can add up to several months of protected time when handled correctly.
Questions about concurrent FMLA and CFRA leave usually show up during serious health issues or sudden care needs for a family member. Confusion over how leave runs can lead to job loss or cuts to hours and health coverage when an employer miscounts weeks or refuses to honor the full time available. Employees who worry about termination during FMLA leave can review our guide on whether you can be fired while on FMLA leave and then talk with counsel about how those rules apply to their situation.
A California employment attorney can review your timeline and HR file to confirm which law applied to each period of leave and to calculate how much protected time still remains. An attorney can compare employer policies with CFRA regulations and FMLA rules and can flag interference or retaliation linked to your use of leave. A short consultation gives a clear view of whether FMLA and CFRA should have run concurrently in your situation and what options exist if the employer cut leave short or took action against you for asserting your rights.
Disclaimer: The information provided on this website is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Viewing this content does not create an attorney-client relationship with The Law Offices of Jeremy Pasternak. Employment law varies by state and situation, and legal outcomes depend on specific facts and applicable laws. While we make every effort to ensure accuracy, laws change, and unintended errors or omissions may occur. For advice on your particular circumstances, consult an attorney.
