Firefighter postpartum and recovery leave.

Plain English Breakdown

The exact list of specified fire departments is not provided in the official summary, leaving some uncertainty about which departments are required to comply with this legislation.

Firefighter Postpartum and Recovery Leave

The bill requires specified fire departments to provide active firefighting members with up to 26 weeks of fully paid postpartum and recovery leave after giving birth or experiencing a stillbirth or miscarriage after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

What This Bill Does

• Entitles active firefighting members of specified fire departments who give birth, have a stillbirth, or experience a miscarriage after 20 weeks of gestation to up to 26 weeks of fully paid leave.
• Requires the leave to start immediately and not depend on how long they've worked there or their job title.
• Ensures that firefighters receive regular pay during this time and continue to earn benefits like health insurance.
• Guarantees that when a firefighter returns from leave, they go back to their old position.

Who It Names or Affects

• Active firefighting members of specified fire departments who give birth or experience pregnancy loss after 20 weeks of gestation.

Terms To Know

Postpartum

The period following childbirth, typically lasting several weeks.

Stillbirth

The death of a fetus after the 20th week of pregnancy before delivery.

Limits and Unknowns

• Does not specify which fire departments are included.
• It is unclear what happens if a firefighter does not return to work after their leave ends.

Official Summary Text

SB 1024, as amended, Menjivar.
Meyers-Milias-Brown Act.
Firefighter postpartum and recovery leave.
Existing law, the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014, entitles an employee who works in California for the same employer for 30 or more days within a year from the commencement of employment to paid sick days. Under existing law, an employee accrues paid sick days at a rate of not less than one hour per every 30 hours worked, subject to certain use, accrual, and yearly carryover limitations.
This bill would entitle active firefighting members of specified fire departments who, after 20 weeks of gestation, give birth or have a stillbirth or miscarriage to 26 weeks of fully paid postpartum and recovery leave. The bill would require the leave to
be granted without regard to length of service or employment classification and to begin immediately upon the childbirth, stillbirth, or miscarriage. The bill would require a firefighter on postpartum and recovery leave to be compensated at the firefighter’s regular rate of pay and would require all benefits to continue to accrue during the leave, as specified. The bill would require a firefighter returning from postpartum and recovery leave to be restored to their prior position, as provided. The bill would request a fire department of the University of California to comply with these provisions.
Existing law, the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, generally governs the labor relations of local public agencies and their employees, as specified. The acts states that its purposes are, among other things, to promote the improvement of personnel management and employer-employee relations within the various public agencies in the State of California by providing a uniform basis for recognizing the right of public employees to join organizations of their own choice and to be represented by those organizations in their employment relationships with public agencies.
This bill would make a nonsubstantive change to the above-described purpose.

Current Bill Text

Download Bill PDF