URGENT – January Alert – NEW PDL REQUIREMENTS

New PDL rules went into effect 12-30-12. These changes to California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave Law requires all employers in the state to display new postings and notices. The content of the postings is available at http://www.dfeh.ca.gov/Publications_Publications.htm. Other substantive changes include the requirement that employers must notify an employee in writing of any medical certification requirement each time a certification is required and provide the employee with a form for the employee’s health care provider to complete. The regulations include an approved form for this purpose entitled “Certification of Health Care Provider for Pregnancy Disability Leave, Transfer and/or Reasonable Accommodation.” The new regulations also attempt to clarify the term “four months” of leave, which the drafters found ambiguous because calendar months do not have an equal number of days. The new definition of four months now includes various methods of calculation and defines the period as the number of days the employee would normally work within four calendar months (one-third of a year equaling 17-1/3 weeks), if the leave is taken continuously following the date the pregnancy disability leave commences. The definition becomes more involved under the new regulations when intermittent leave is taken. Contact your Holman HR representative for further guidance and information.