Crime Victims Leave – California Labor Law § 230.2 and § 230.5

Covered Employers: All employers

Employee Eligibility: An employee who is a victim of a crime (crime is defined as a violent or serious felony, or felony theft or embezzlement, under the penal code), an immediate family member (meaning spouse, child, stepchild, sibling, stepsibling, parent, or stepparent) of a victim, a registered domestic partner of a victim, or the child of a registered domestic partner of a victim.

Entitlement: An employer must allow an eligible employee to be absent from work in order to attend judicial proceedings related to a crime.

Employee Notice: The employee shall give the employer reasonable advance notice of the employee's intention to take time off, unless the advance notice is not feasible.

Certification Supporting Need for Leave: Employees must provide the employer with a copy of the notice of each scheduled proceeding that is provided to the victim by the agency responsible for providing notice, unless advance notice is not feasible. When advance notice is not feasible or an unscheduled absence occurs, the employer shall not take action against the employee if the employee, within a reasonable time after the absence, provides the employer with documentation evidencing the judicial proceeding from the court or government agency setting the hearing, the district attorney or prosecuting attorney's office, or the victim/witness office that is advocating on behalf of the victim.

Paid? No. The employee may (but cannot be required to) substitute any available vacation, personal, or compensatory time off for unpaid time.

Absence Specifications