California Victims of Violence Leave - Legislative Guidance

Table of Contents

Overview

California Victims of Violence leave provides unpaid leave for qualifying acts of violence, where the employee or employee’s qualifying family member may need to seek medical care, law enforcement matters, or safety planning.

Employers with 25 or more employees are allowed up to 12 weeks of leave within a 12-month period. If taking leave for a family member, an employer may cap the amount of time an employee takes to 5 days due to relocation circumstances, or 10 days due to court proceedings, safety planning, attend or visit victim service organizations( a shelter, rape crisis center, etc.), counseling services, or child-care needs.

California law also provides additional entitlement for court appearance relating to victims of qualifying acts of violence. California does define domestic violence, sexual assault, or stalking, as a qualifying act of violence.

An employer of any size must comply with giving any time requested for obtaining relief of the court, such as restraining orders, or ensuring the health and safety of themselves or their child, for qualifying acts of violence, and to attend any court ordered/subpoenaed judicial proceeding.

Additionally, the law provides an employee’s right to safety accommodations at their workplace, retaliation and discrimination protection.

AbsenceSoft Policies

CADOM is configured in AbsenceSoft with the policy code and naming below:

• California Victims of Violence Leave CA-DOM

Legislation codes and statues

The information presented in the guidance relates to the following legislative codes, links to the specific legislation can be found within the ‘Resources’ section of this document:

• California Government Code section 12945.8 (Cal. Gov. Code § 12945.8)

• California Labor Code section 230 - 230.5 (Cal. Labor Code §230.1 - §230.5) Effective 1/1/2026

• California Labor Code section 245.5 (Cal. Labor Code §245.5)Effective 1/1/2026

Employer Coverage

Employers of any size must grant leave for an employee who is a victim of qualifying act of violence anytime off they may need to seek or obtain relief from court(protective orders, injunctive relief) for themselves or their child.

Employers must employ 25 or more employees to meet the needs of other parameters of the law that fall under the 12 workweek entitlement (or limited to 15 days in certain family member situations).

Employee Eligibility

Employee is either a victim of family violence or a crime in which a qualifying act of violence occurred. For family violence, the employee must have qualifying family member.

Qualifying Absence Reasons and Leave Duration

Employees are eligible for up to 12 weeks of leave in a 12-month period determined by the employer. If the employee is taking leave for a family member who is not deceased as a result of a qualifying act of violence, the employer may limit the time to 5 days for relocation purposes, and 10 days for purposes of counseling, safety planning, victim services through an organization, childcare needs, care of a family member due to injuries/medical attention needs, or court proceedings for a max of 15 days for a family member.

When an employee is seeking court relief for a qualifying act of violence for themselves or their child, there is no limit on the entitlement.

Safe Leave/Domestic Violence

• Safe Leave/Domestic Violence: Seeking legal assistance (protective orders, meeting with law enforcement or attorney), securing housing, relocating, medical attention, counseling, providing or obtaining childcare, ensuring safety of a child or dependent adult, or other victim services for the employee or qualifying family members.

Qualifying Family Member

• Child of any age(stepchild, legal ward, adopted/foster care, domestic partner’s child, in loco parentis)

• Spouse/domestic partner

• Parent(Parent-in-law, Domestic Partner’s Parent, Step Parent, Legal Guardian, Adopted/Foster Parent)

• Sibling (halfsibling, stepsibling, adopted/foster sibling)

• Grandparent or grandchild

• Any other close association that can be seen as a family relationship

• The family members noted above must not be deceased as a result of the situation, other leave laws may apply where a family member is deceased.

How Leave Can be Taken

The law does not specify how leave may be taken. Employers will want to consult on the best approach for their organization. Typically, employers may offer consecutive, intermittent, or reduced schedule for any qualifying reason.

• Consecutive leave: A continuous, uninterrupted period of leave taken for a single qualifying reason.

• Intermittent leave: Leave taken in separate, sometimes unpredictable, blocks of time (either hours, days or weeks) between the start and end dates of leave.

• Reduced schedule: A reduction to the employees’ work schedule that results in either fewer hours per day or fewer days per week. A reduced schedule is consistent from one week to the next.

Certification Requirements

Employers can request documentation to support the leave request. The employee must return within a reasonable amount of time. While pending documentation any unexcused absences should not adversely affect the employee until a reasonable time has passed and no documentation has been provided.

• Police report

• Court order of protection

• Evidence from court or attorney the employee has appeared in court

• Documentation from a healthcare professional, counselor, victim advocate stating there was treatment or undergoing treatment for injuries or abuse relating to the crimes committed.

Recertification can be requested every 6 months by the employer for items pertaining to employers with 25 or more employees.

Certification for Accommodation

Employers may require an employee submit documentation to support their accommodation request. Employers must maintain the confidentiality of any written or verbal information provided regarding their status or their family member’s status as a victim.

• A written, signed statement from the employee or any individual acting on behalf stating the individual’s request for accommodation falls within the requirements of the law;

• Certification showing status of a victim and may continue to request every 6 months from date of previous certification.

Accommodation Types

The law provides examples of accommodation types. This list is not exhaustive nor required. Employers should determine undue hardship for any accommodation type requested.

• Job transfer or reassignment

• Change to work phone number, station or location/worksite

• Modified schedule

• Employer policy changes such as allowing the employee to carry a phone

• Assist in documenting any workplace event that involves a qualified act of violence

• Installing or implementing safety procedures such as locks

• Employer referral assistance to victim organization

Interactive Process

The interactive process is not fully outlined in the law. The law indicates an employer should engage in a timely, good faith interactive process in determining reasonable accommodations.

Employers should consider reasonableness where the employee or the employee’s family member has an immediate threat to their health, safety, or well-being of the employee or a member of their family.

Undue Hardship

Employers can determine undue hardship based on the safety of others within the workplace that are not victims. California law requires employers to provide a safe and healthful workplace for all as outlined in Labor Code section 6400.

Additionally employers should consider¹

• Cost and nature of request

• Impact operationally

• Financial resources and its impact on resources and expenses outside of accommodation costs

• Size of business (number of employees at facility)

• Type of business, operations, structures, and functions of the entity

• Geographic locations of all worksites or separateness of administrative or fiscal relationships of the facilities.

Pay and Benefits

Leave is unpaid. Where state pay benefits are involved with other law interactions, such as state mandated sick pay, employers will want to consider where PTO/employer pay benefit application should occur.

Use of Paid Time Off (PTO)

Employees may use any accrued time available.

Job Protection

Employees should be returned to the same or equivalent position following their leave.

Other Protections

Employees taking leave under this law are entitled to confidentiality pertaining to the request and the documentation provided.

Employees who invoke their right to CADOM are protected from discrimination and retaliation. Employers are prohibited from denying leave or interfering with employee rights under CADOM.

Adverse employment action should not be taken against employees who have unexcused absences if the employee provides documentation within a reasonable time frame following the absence.

Benefits

Employers should consider benefits as other terms of employment that are protected under the law.

Interaction with Other Laws

Where an employee meets the definition of family member, qualifying absence reason, or serious health condition, the state and federal laws may interact. Accommodations that are not leave related, would not run concurrently with other state or federal leave laws.  

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

CADOM may run concurrently with FMLA.

California Family Rights Act(CFRA)

CADOM may run concurrently with CFRA.

California Crime Victim Leave(CACVL)

CADOM may run concurrently with CACVL.

California State Disability Insurance(CASDI)

CASDI is for an employee’s health condition and administered by the state of California. Employees would need to contact the state on their claim.

California Paid Family Leave(CAPFL)

CAPFL is for the care of a family member and administered by the state of California. Employees would need to contact the state on their claim.

Accommodations

Employers should consider safety accommodations for the workplace when an employee requests and identifies as a victim of violence. This may not fall under the Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA) as an employee must be deemed disabled to request accommodations. California law expressly calls out safety accommodations within the law and those should be considered.

Employee and Employer Responsibilities

Employee Responsibilities

• Notify employer in advance of seeking relief under legal means, mental health service needs or victim agency resourcing, when possible;

• When supporting documentation is requested, comply with the request from the employer;

• Provide the schedule of court proceedings(where applicable);

• Participate in the accommodation process where applicable; and

• Follow employer policies and procedures for time-off reporting.

Employer Responsibilities

• Posting requirements are as follows and all posters must be a place that is conspicuous/frequented by employees:

  • There are no posting requirements for this law;

  • Written notice should be provided at hire, annually, upon the request of the employee, or at the time the employer finds the employee or their family member is a victim;

  • Notice is provided by the Civil Rights Division but employers may also create their own with the following guidelines:

    • Notice should be substantially similar to the one designed by the Civil Rights Division;

    • Includes rights and duties of employers and employees concisely and clearly;

    • Leave taken due to serious health condition of qualified victim may be eligible for CASDI or CAPFL, or other programs of the CAEDD;

    • Advise if the victim family member is deceased they may take leave under this section or bereavement under Section 12945.7;

    • Employees may be eligible for Sections 230.2 and 230.5 of the Labor Code (California Crime Victim to attend court proceedings); and

    • Provide in language that is spoken by a substantial number of non-English-speaking people.

• Determine if additional documentation will be required other than court schedule;

• Keep all records confidential;

• Do not take adverse employment action for a reasonable period when unexcused absence may occur; and

• Participate in the process for accommodations and notify employee of undue hardship.

Resources

California Legislation: https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV&sectionNum=12945.8. and https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=230.&nodeTreePath=3.1.1.1&lawCode=LAB

California Department of Labor Industries:  https://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/howtofilelinkcodesections.htm

¹ Cal. Gov. Code § 12926 (u)