Reproductive Loss Leave

Purpose

California Government Code Section 12945.6 entitles County employees up to five days of leave upon a reproductive loss event, defined as the day, or for a multiple-day event, the final day, of a failed adoption, failed surrogacy, miscarriage, stillbirth or an unsuccessful assisted reproduction​

Definitions

Failed Adoption: The dissolution or breach of an adoption agreement with the birth mother or legal guardian, or an adoption that is not finalized because it is contested by another party. This applies to a person who would have been a parent of the adoptee if the adoption had been completed.

​Failed Surrogacy: The dissolution or breach of a surrogacy agreement, or a failed embryo transfer to the surrogate. This applies to a person who would ​have been a parent of a child born as a result of the surrogacy.

Miscarriage: The miscarriage by a person, by the person's current spouse or domestic partner, or by another individual if the person would have been a parent of a child born as a result of the pregnancy.

Stillbirth: A stillbirth resulting from a person's pregnancy, the pregnancy of a person's current spouse or domestic partner, or another individual, if the person would have been a parent of a child born as a result of the pregnancy that ended in stillbirth.

Assisted Reproduction: A method of achieving a pregnancy through an artificial insemination or an embryo transfer and includes gamete and embryo donation.

Policy

Eligibility

All County employees are eligible. Prior to the commencement of leave, an employee must be employed for at least 30 days.

Entitlement

An employee has the right to take up to 5 days of reproductive loss leave following a reproductive loss event. If an employee experiences more than one reproductive loss in a 12-month period, a maximum of 20 days of reproductive loss leave will be granted within a 12-month period.

​Reproductive loss leave may be used intermittently. An employee must use reproductive loss leave within 3 months of the reproductive loss event. If prior to or immediately following a reproductive loss event, an employee is on leave for FMLA, CFRA, PDL, or other protected leave entitlement under state or federal law, the employee must complete their reproductive loss leave within 3 months of the end date of the other leave. 

Use of Balances

An employee must use any accrued leave balance available to the employee. Unpaid leave time is permitted if the employee's leave balances have exhausted.

Request Procedure

The request must be provided in writing, in accordance with department procedures, identifying the requested days off.