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U.S. State-Specific Family and Medical Leave Policies (Appendix)

New York Paid Family Leave (New York Employees Only)

In line with New York’s Paid Family Leave (“NYPFL”), Glitch employees working 20 or more hours per week are eligible for coverage after 26 consecutive weeks of employment. Employees who work less than 20 hours per week are eligible after completing 175 days worked. Employees must work in New York State to be eligible for this benefit. Please contact Operation for the forms necessary to make a claim.

NYPFL provides job-protection and income replacement to eligible employees who need to be away from work for the following reasons:

  • To bond with their child within 12 months of their child’s birth, adoption, or foster placement;
  • To provide care, including physical or psychological care, for a close family member with a serious health condition, including family members outside of New York State; and
  • To assist with family situations arising when their spouse, domestic partner, child, or parent is on active service in a foreign country or has been notified of an impending call or order of active service to a foreign country.

Under the NYPFL, (a) “child” means an employee’s biological, adopted, foster, or stepchild, legal ward, a child of the employee’s domestic partner, or a child to whom the employee will stand in loco parentis; (b) “family members” include the employee’s child/stepchild and anyone for whom you have legal custody, parent/stepparent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, spouse, or domestic partner; and (c) “parent” includes an employee’s biological, foster or adoptive parent, a parent-in-law, a stepparent, a legal guardian, or another person who stood in loco parentis to the staff member when he/she was a child.

When using NYPFL for bonding with your new child, know that it only begins after birth and is not available for prenatal conditions.

If you and your co-parent both work for Glitch and you both want to take NYPFL at the same time, you may do so unless it is too much of a burden on the company.

Our insurance carrier will receive and process requests for NYPFL and make your benefit payments.

You may not take NYPFL for your own serious health condition.

When practicable, you must provide 30 days’ notice when the leave is foreseeable. If you need this leave, you may be required to provide:

  • Medical certification from a health care provider for the care of a family member
  • Certification of birth, adoption, or foster care
  • Periodic reports during the leave

Failure to provide this information when requested may affect the eligibility for or timing of NYPFL.

Employees may take NYPFL intermittently -- which means taking leave in blocks of time, or by reducing their normal weekly or daily work schedule. Certain restrictions on these benefits may apply

The NYPFL benefit for 2020 is set as follows:

  • On or after January 1, 2020, eligible Glitch employees will be entitled to NYPFL for a maximum of ten (10) weeks in a 52-week period, and will receive 60% of their wages or 60% of the statewide average weekly wage, whichever is less; and
  • On or after January 1, 2021 and on January 1 of each succeeding year, Glitch employees will be entitled to NYPFL for a maximum of twelve (12) weeks in a 52-week period, and will receive 67% of their wages or 67% of the statewide average weekly wage, whichever is less.

Pay for NYPFL is financed through the state and funded by a payroll deduction, much like benefits provided under the New York State Disability Benefits Law. If you take NYPFL, you will receive a portion of your weekly earnings from New York State during the leave.

You may use available vacation days and receive full salary in lieu of receiving statutory benefits for a period of time. Please discuss this option with Operations.

We will maintain any group health insurance coverage that you were provided before the leave on the same terms as if you had continued to work.

Interaction with Family and Medical Leave and Glitch Parental Leave

Because NYPFL shares many of the same requirements and definitions as the FMLA and Glitch Parental Leave, in most cases the leave of absence programs will be applied concurrently, NOT one after the other.

NYPFL will never run concurrently with New York State mandated disability benefits, which provide a benefit when you need to miss work because of your own disabling illness or injury. NYPFL only comes into play when you need to miss work to care for someone else. Eligible employees can use a maximum of 26 weeks NYPFL and disability in a 52 week period.

Employees eligible for salary continuation under our FML will also be entitled to take advantage of the NYPFL. We will supplement your NYPFL pay to match the benefit you receive under our FML.

Notice

If you wish to take NYPFL and the need is foreseeable, you must give us at least 30 days’ written notice before the date NYPFL is expected to begin. If the leave is foreseeable but will happen in less than 30 days, you should give us as much notice as possible. If your need is not foreseeable, you must provide us with written notice within 30 days after the qualifying event begins.

Certification

An employee must provide us with proof of the need for NYPFL within 30 days after the leave commences. Please contact Operations for the needed forms.

Return to Work

When you return from leave, we will reinstate you to your original position or, if no longer available, to an equivalent position with equivalent terms and condition of employment, including pay and employment benefits.

For additional information regarding NYPFL, please see NY Paid Family Leave.

Family Rights and Pregnancy Disability Leave (California Employees Only)

Under the California Family Rights Act of 1993 (CFRA) and the New Parent Leave Act, if you are working in California and you have worked at least 1,250 hours in the 12-month period before the date you want to begin your leave, you may have a right to family care or medical leave. This leave may be up to 12 work weeks in a 12-month period for the birth of a child or the placement of a child for adoption or foster care. This right to take leave also extends to leave taken for your own serious health condition or to care for a parent, registered domestic partner, or child with a serious health condition. This law provides only unpaid leave, but we require that you use accrued paid leave while taking CRFA leave. In the instances where the CRFA overlaps with our FML, the terms of our FML will govern.

Even if you are not eligible for CFRA leave, if you are disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, you are entitled to take a pregnancy disability leave (PDL) of up to four (4) months, depending on your period of actual disability. A pregnancy disability is a physical or mental condition related to pregnancy or childbirth that prevents you from performing essential duties of your job, of if your job would cause undue risk to you or your pregnancy’s successful completion. Your health care provider should determine whether or not you have a pregnancy disability.

If you are CFRA-eligible, you have certain rights to take BOTH a pregnancy disability leave and a CFRA leave for reason of the birth of your child. Both leaves contain a guarantee of reinstatement - for pregnancy disabilty it is to the same position and for CFRA it is to the same or to a comparable position - at the end of the leave, subject to any defense allowed under the law.

If you are taking a leave for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child, the basic minimum duration of the leave is two (2) weeks and you must conclude the leave within one (1) year of the birth or placement for adoption or foster care.

Notice

If possible, you must provide at least thirty (30) days advance notice for foreseeable events (such as the expected birth of a child or a planned medical treatment for yourself or a family member). For events which are not foreseeable, notify your manager, at least verbally, as soon as you learn of the need for the leave. Notice can be written or verbal and should include the timing and the anticipated duration of the leave.

Certification

Additionally, please provide us with written communication from your health care provider (or the health-care provider of the child, parent, registered domestic partner with the serious health condition) stating the reasons for the leave and the probable duration of the condition. The health care provider may not disclose the underlying diagnosis without the consent of the patient. And when medically necessary, leave may be taken on an intermittent or a reduced work schedule.

For more information concerning the CFRA and PDL, please contact Operations and see California Family Rights Act and California Leave Comparison Chart.

Paid Family Leave (California Employees Only)

Paid Family Leave (PFL) provides up to six (6) weeks of partially paid time within a 12-month period to employees working in California who need to take time off work to care for a seriously ill child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or registered domestic partner. Benefits are also available to new parents who need time to bond with a new child entering their life either by birth, adoption, or foster care placement. The six weeks of benefits can be paid consecutively or may be split up while you are working part-time or intermittently as a result of your leave.

Paid Family Leave defines “seriously ill” as an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition that requires:

  • At-home care or in-patient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical facility.
  • Continuing treatment by a physician or health care provider. This is available to you if you are caring for a seriously ill child, parent, parent-in law,

A “parent” is defined as an individual, spouse, or registered domestic partner who will be serving as a parent for the child.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible for PFL benefits, you must:

  • Be unable to do your regular or customary work due to the need to provide care for a seriously ill family member or to bond with a new child.
  • Be employed or actively looking for work at the time your family leave begins.
  • Have lost wages because you were caring for a seriously ill family member or bonding with a new child.
  • Have earned at least $300 from which State Disability Insurance (SDI) deductions were withheld during your base period. For additional information, visit Calculating Paid Family Leave Benefit Payment Amounts.
  • Complete and submit your claim form no earlier than the first day your family leave begins, but no later than 41 days after your family leave begins or you may lose benefits.
  • Provide a medical certificate on your care claim for the seriously ill family member. The certificate must be completed by the care recipient’s physician/practitioner.
    • A nurse practitioner or physician assistant may certify to the need for care within their scope of practice; however, they must perform a physical
    • If the care recipient is under the care of a religious practitioner, request a Practitioner’s Certification for Paid Family Leave (PFL) Benefits (DE 2502F), from an SDI office. Certification by a religious practitioner is acceptable only if the practitioner has been accredited by the Employment Development Department.

Citizenship and immigration status do not affect eligibilty.

Further, we will be notified that you have submitted a PFL claim. However, the care recipient’s medical information is confidential, and will not be shared with us.

An independent medical examination of the care recipient may be required to determine your initial or continuing eligibility.

PFL does not provide job protection. It provides partial wage replacement when you cannot work due to the need to care for a child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or registered domestic partner, or to bond with a new child.

If you are also eligible for salary continuation under our FML, we will supplement your salary to match our policy.

If you have additional questions concerning California’s Paid Family Leave, please ask Operations and see California Paid Family Leave.