Victims of Crime Leave to Attend Criminal Court Proceedings

Purpose

California Labor Code Section 230.2 entitles County employees time off work to attend judicial proceedings related to a crime in which one of the following individuals, is a victim of a crime:

• The employee
• A spouse, parent, stepparent, guardian, child, stepchild, sibling, or stepsibling of the employee
• A registered domestic partner of the employee
• The child of a registered domestic partner of the employee 

Pursuant to California Labor Code Section 230.5, “victim" is defined as a person against whom one of the following crimes has been committed:

• a violent felony, as defined in Penal Code section 667.5(c)
• a serious felony, as defined in Penal Code section 1192.7
• a felony provision of law regarding theft or embezzlement 

Policy

Eligibility

All County employees are eligible.

Entitlement

An employee has the right to take time off to attend judicial proceedings, including compelled attendance (such as by subpoena) in federal judicial proceedings as well as state judicial proceedings.

Use of Balances

An employee must use all vacation, compensatory time off (CTO) and holiday-in-lieu (HIL) balances before unpaid leave is authorized. Sick leave accruals may not be used.

Request Procedure

Before any absence, an employee is required to provide a copy of the notice of each scheduled proceeding, in accordance with department procedures, unless advance notice is not feasible. If advance notice is not feasible or an unscheduled absence occurs, the employee must be given an opportunity to provide, within a reasonable time after the absence, documentation evidencing the judicial proceeding.

An employee is required to provide documentation of the judicial proceeding, from any of the following:

• the court or government agency setting the hearing
• the District Attorney or prosecuting attorney's office
• the victim/witness office that is advocating on behalf of the victim