In this month’s Take 5 newsletter, I discuss how California is unique for making numerous types of protected leaves of absence available to employees.  All of these options can add up to a lot of protected leave.

Following is from the introduction:

National employers often find it challenging to navigate the employment laws of the various states in which they do business. In most cases, the easiest solution may be to adopt national policies that follow federal law. This process will not work, however, for employers that do business in California, where state protections are often more expansive and provide greater employee rights than their federal law equivalents. This is particularly true in the leave of absence arena. California is unique in that it makes numerous types of protected leaves of absence available to employees. The cumulative impact of administering all of the available leaves in California can be quite burdensome and lead to a perfect storm in which an employee may continue to be on a protected leave of absence for more than one year. Here’s why …

The full issue is here.