SB 590: Paid family leave: eligibility: care for designated persons.

Existing unemployment compensation disability law requires workers to pay contribution rates based on, among other things, wages received in employment and benefit disbursement, for payment into the Unemployment Compensation Disability Fund, a special fund in the State Treasury. That fund is continuously appropriated for the purpose of providing disability benefits and making payment of expenses in administering those provisions.

Existing law establishes, within the above state disability insurance program, a family temporary disability insurance program, also known as the paid family leave program, for the provision of wage replacement benefits for up to 8 weeks to workers who take time off work for prescribed purposes, including to care for a seriously ill family member. Existing law defines terms for its purposes, including family care leave and family member.

This bill would, commencing July 1, 2027, expand eligibility for benefits under the paid family leave program to include individuals who take time off work to care for a seriously ill designated person. The bill would define designated person to mean any individual related by blood or whose association with the employee is the equivalent of a family relationship. The bill would authorize the employee to identify the designated person when they file a claim for benefits. The bill would make conforming changes to the definitions of the terms family care leave and family member.

By authorizing expenditures from the continuously appropriated fund for these expanded purposes, this bill would make an appropriation.