California’s Family-Leave Expansion Bill Ready for Senate Vote

Californians could soon take time off to care for their chosen family as well as their biological kin under a bill slated for a vote next week, one of several employment-related measures expected to pass in the closing days of the state’s legislative session.

Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks’ bill (A.B. 1041) would let employees take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave to care for a “designated person” who is not biologically or legally related. The employee could choose one designated person per year.

Advocates say the pandemic revealed the difficulties of people needing care who have no ...