She Is Not Family. California Leave Law May Disagree.
“My manager said CFRA is only for family. She is not my family.”
That is an illustration, drawn from the kind of call I tend to get, not one person’s words.
She raised you after your mother died. Or she has been your emergency contact for 20 years.
Wrong answer.
The federal list is short
FMLA/CFRA, with CFRA controlling in California.
The FMLA lets an eligible employee take leave to care for a spouse, a son or daughter, or a parent with a serious health condition (29 U.S.C. § 2612(a)(1)(C)). That is the whole list, and the FMLA generally reaches only employers with 50 or more employees.
California’s list is longer
The California Family Rights Act has, since January 1, 2023, given eligible employees job-protected time off to look after a “designated person” who has a serious health condition (Cal. Gov’t Code § 12945.2(b)(2)).
Who counts? Anyone related to you by blood, or anyone whose bond with you is, in the statute’s words, “the equivalent of a family relationship.”
You can identify that person when you request the leave. Your employer can limit you to one designated person in a 12-month period.
CFRA applies to employers with five or more employees, and generally to employees with more than 12 months of service and at least 1,250 hours in the prior 12 months. The leave runs up to 12 workweeks in a 12-month period.
Pay is a separate question
Job protection and a paycheck are not the same thing.
Right now, California’s Paid Family Leave benefits do not cover care for a designated person who is not otherwise a listed family member. SB 590 changes that, but only for claims filed on or after July 1, 2028.
So today, you may have the right to the time off without a wage-replacement check to go with it.
What they say, and what it may mean
“That is not a real relationship.” The law asks whether the bond is the equivalent of family, not whether your manager approves of it.
“Bring us a birth certificate.” Blood is one path. A family-equivalent relationship is the other.
“We only do FMLA here.” A company large enough for the FMLA is large enough for CFRA, and CFRA’s longer list applies.
In HR practice, the pattern is familiar: a handbook written around the federal list, applied to a California request, by a manager who never heard the words “designated person.”
Ask for the leave under CFRA, by name, and describe the relationship plainly. Your family is not limited to a short federal list.
Contact Michael Trust Law, APC for a no-charge initial consultation. The facts determine whether you have a claim - and how much of a conversation that takes.
This post shares general information based on common patterns I see in California workplaces. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and outcomes depend on specific facts - no lawyer can guarantee a result. Past results do not guarantee or predict future outcomes. AI may have been used to create this post. All content reviewed by a CA attorney before publication.