Job Protection for Parents and Caregivers Through SB 1383
Senate Bill 1383, authored by Senator Hannah-Beth Jackson, would provide job protection to workers who need to use paid family leave at an employer with 5 or more employees. The final vote for this bill is expected to take place on August 24, 2020 in the California Assembly. There has been strong opposition to this bill, which is why the Coalition and several other organizations across California are working intensely to ensure that California assemblymembers are hearing from their constituents about why this bill is so important for the health and economic well-being of families.
Many employees don't realize that they pay into the California State Disability Insurance fund. This program is how paid leave in California is funded. The purpose of this fund is to enable workers to use paid leave to take care of their own serious illness, to care for a family member who is seriously ill, or to bond with a new child.
Unfortunately, many who need to use paid leave don't access it because their awareness of this employee-funded program is low, and roughly 40% of workers do not qualify for job protection, meaning they can be legally fired when using the California State Disability Insurance that they pay for.
SB 1383 would expand job protection by lowering the employee minimum requirement to 5 employees. The current law only provides job protection for caregivers at employers with 50 or more employees and for parents at employers with 20 or more employees. This bill is being heavily opposed by the Chamber of Commerce, which is why we need to step up our advocacy efforts to ask our California assemblymembers to pass this bill.
