You looked up "medical leave," found the federal rules, saw 50 employees, counted the eleven people at your company and stopped reading. That was the wrong page.
The short answer: two separate laws can protect your job during mental health leave, and in California the state one is much wider. The California Family Rights Act covers employers with five or more employees.¹ The federal Family and Medical Leave Act covers employers with 50 or more, and only at worksites where the employer has 50 within 75 miles.² Both require 12 months of service and 1,250 hours in the previous year, and both give 12 workweeks in a 12-month period.¹ ² If your employer has between 5 and 49 employees, you have California job protection and no federal job protection — and the California one is the one that matters to you.
The two laws side by side
| CFRA (California) | FMLA (federal) | |
|---|---|---|
| Employer size | 5 or more employees¹ | 50 or more, and 50 within 75 miles of your worksite² |
| Your service | More than 12 months, and 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months¹ | 12 months, and 1,250 hours in the previous 12 months² |
| Leave | 12 workweeks in a 12-month period¹ | 12 workweeks in a 12-month period² |
| Your own condition | Covered — a "serious health condition" includes a mental condition involving inpatient care or continuing treatment³ | Covered |
| Family you can care for | Child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, domestic partner, or a designated person¹ | A narrower list: spouse, child, parent |
| Paid? | No. The pay comes from a different system.¹ | No |
CFRA's "designated person" is defined in the statute as "any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship."¹ There is no federal equivalent. If the person you would take leave to care for is your best friend of thirty years, California is the only law in this table that sees them.
Where the two run together, and the one place they do not
When both laws apply, the same absence usually counts against both entitlements at once, so twelve weeks is twelve weeks, not twenty-four. The statute names one exception: CFRA leave runs concurrently with FMLA leave "except for any leave taken under the FMLA for disability on account of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions."¹
That exception is worth understanding, because it is the one situation where California leave stacks. Pregnancy disability leave in California is its own entitlement, and time out on it does not consume the CFRA twelve weeks. A person can be out on pregnancy disability, then take CFRA bonding leave afterwards.
What "serious health condition" means, and why a mental health condition qualifies
The regulation defines it as "an illness, injury (including, but not limited to, on-the-job injuries), impairment, or physical or mental condition" that involves either inpatient care or continuing treatment — and it says explicitly that this includes "treatment for substance abuse."³ Continuing treatment means "ongoing medical treatment or supervision by a health care provider," and incapacity means "the inability to work, attend school, or perform other regular daily activities due to a serious health condition, its treatment, or the recovery that it requires."³
Nothing in that definition ranks physical conditions above mental ones. A depressive episode under a clinician's care that stops you doing the essential functions of your job is a serious health condition in the same sense a back injury is.
The three checks, in order
- Count the employees. Five or more, anywhere in the company: CFRA is in play. Fifty or more within 75 miles of where you work: FMLA is in play too.
- Count your service. More than twelve months with this employer, and at least 1,250 hours in the last twelve. The 1,250 hours is roughly 24 hours a week for a year — part-time work often clears it and often does not, so count rather than assume.
- Get the certification right. Both laws let the employer ask for one, and both limit what it may contain far more tightly than most HR forms suggest. What a leave certification has to say — and what it may not ask →
If you fail the service test, you are not out of options: a change that lets you keep working is a reasonable accommodation, and it has no service threshold at all. What you can ask for at work →
Q&A
Q: My company has 12 employees. Do I have any job-protected leave? A: Yes, under CFRA, if you have more than 12 months of service and 1,250 hours in the previous year. California's leave law covers employers with five or more employees; the federal law's 50-employee threshold does not apply to you and does not remove your state right.¹ ²
Q: Does the 12 weeks have to be taken all at once? A: No. Leave for a serious health condition may be taken intermittently or as a reduced schedule when medically necessary, and there is a rule limiting how much your employer may charge you for a short absence. How intermittent leave is counted →
Q: Is any of this paid? A: Not by these laws. They protect the job. The money comes from State Disability Insurance and from any paid leave you have accrued. What you can actually get paid during leave →
Q: Can I be fired while I am out? A: Not for taking the leave. Retaliation and interference are unlawful, and California gives you three years to file a complaint. What retaliation looks like and what to do →
Our therapist directory: See its current status →
Sources
- California Family Rights Act, Gov. Code §12945.2 — employer coverage at five or more employees, 12 months and 1,250 hours of service, 12 workweeks, the family-member list including a "designated person," and concurrency with FMLA except for pregnancy disability — california.public.law.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Wage and Hour Division, FMLA frequently asked questions — 50 employees for 20 workweeks, 50 within 75 miles, 12 months and 1,250 hours, 12 workweeks — dol.gov.
- Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, §11087 — definitions of "serious health condition," "continuing treatment" and "incapacity" — law.cornell.edu.
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