Bay Area Reporter: CA family leave bills aim to benefit LGBTQ workers

March 29. 2023

ERA Policy Director Jessica Ramey Stender is featured in a Bay Area Reporter article about the necessity of extending workplace Paid Family Leave to include chosen family members.

The article discusses 2 ERA-sponsored Stronger CA bills: AB 1041, which became law and went into effect this year, expanding family leave to include chosen family members in addition to workers’ biological relatives, spouses, and children; and AB 518, a 2023 bill that would give workers the right to receive Paid Family Leave wage replacement benefits. Currently, most California workers pay into the Paid Family Leave program through automatic paycheck deductions, but those with chosen family cannot currently access the program when they need to take time off to care for those loved ones. (Learn more about AB 518 and our other Stronger California priority bills here.)

“I think the Legislature showed the need and an understanding of having a more expansive definition for family to take into account workers who don’t have close family or family that is not related by blood,” said Stender.

Read the article here.