The City provides paid sick leave to care for family members as required by law and additional paid sick leave as privilege of employment. Unpaid sick leave may be approved for employees who exhaust accrued paid sick leave and need additional time to support family members. Employees may use sick leave for absence from work due to illness or disability of the employee’s:

• Spouse or Registered Domestic Partner
• Child (Biological, Step, Foster, Adopted or In Loco Parentis)
• Parent (Biological, Step, In-Law, Foster, Adopted or In Loco Parentis)
• Grandparent
• Grandchild
• Sibling
• Designated Person (Local 21, Committee of Interns and Residents and Unrepresented Only)

Or for:

• Medical and dental appointments for qualifying family members
• Assuming child rearing responsibilities following childbirth, placement or adoption
• Bereavement
• Other reasons identified in Civil Service Rules

City employees who accrue sick leave.

Employees can use paid sick leave up to the maximum accrued hours for reasons identified in Civil Service Rules. Unpaid sick leave is subject to management approval.

The leave is paid as long as an employee has accrued sick leave available. Unpaid sick leave and substituting other accrued leaves, such as vacation, are discretionary unless required by law.

Employees must request sick leave following their department’s absence call-in procedures. For absences continuing more than five workdays, complete and return a Request for Leave and Leave Protections form  to a designated human resources representative, manager or supervisor.

For information on various authorities granting paid sick leave to care for qualifying family members refer to the links below.

• California's Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (State Sick Leave Law)
• FAQ's About State Sick Leave Law
• Sick Leave Ordinance, Chapter 12W of the San Francisco Administrative Code
• Kin Care
• Civil Service Rules
  • 120 for Miscellaneous Classes
  • 220 for Uniformed Ranks of the Police Department
  • 320 for Uniformed Ranks of the Fire Department
  • 420 for the Municipal Transportation Agency Service-Critical

The Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and California Family Rights Act (CFRA) provide eligible employees with up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for to care for a qualifying family member with a serious health condition.

Employees who:

• Have been employed by the City for 12 months (need not to be continuous); AND
• Have worked 1,250 hours during the 12 months prior to the start of leave; AND
• Have a spouse, parent, or child under 18 years old, or qualifying disabled adult child, or a registered domestic partner (CFRA only) with a serious a serious health condition requiring care

FMLA and CFRA provide up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave within a rolling 12-month period. If the leave is taken intermittently, or as a part-time schedule, the entitlement is converted to an equivalent number of work hours. Full-time employees may take up to 480 hours of protected leave (based on a 40-hour workweek).

FMLA and CFRA leaves generally run concurrently.

FMLA and CFRA are unpaid, however, employees may be required, or may elect, to use accrued sick leave, vacation, CTO and floating holidays.

To request leave for a family member’s serious health condition, complete and return Request for Leave and Leave Protections and Certification of Healthcare Provider Form - Family Member forms to a designated human resources representative, manager or supervisor. Under certain circumstances departments may approve FMLA/CFRA leave without a written request.

Civil Service Rules provide discretionary unpaid Family Care Leave to permanent employees to care a qualifying family member with a serious illness or health condition or a mental or physical impairment which renders that person incapable of self-care. A qualifying family member is defined broadly and includes immediate family and other relationships.

Permanent employees who have been employed by the City for at least one year and who do not qualify for, or have exhausted entitlements under, FMLA or CFRA.

Departments have discretion to grant up to one year of Family Care Leave.

Family Care Leave is unpaid, however, employees may be required, or may elect, to use accrued sick pay, vacation, CTO and floating holidays.

Employees who pay SDI taxes, may receive California’s Paid Family Leave benefit which provides up to six weeks of partial wage replacement when taking time off work to care for a sick child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or registered domestic partner. Refer to the Paid Family Leave Fact Sheet for more information.

To request Family Care Leave, complete and return a Request for Leave and Leave Protections form to a designated human resources representative, manager or supervisor. Employees may be required to submit a statement confirming a qualifying relationship and medical certification.

The T.J. Anthony Catastrophic Illness Program (CIP) provides donated vacation accruals to employees who take time off to care for a qualifying catastrophically ill family member. This program is open to donors as well as recipients. Employees may donate accrued vacation to designated persons or to the CIP pool.

Donated vacation accruals will be transferred to the employee as sick leave accruals to take time off to care for an ill family member.

Employees who:

• Can accumulate and use City sick leave and vacation; AND
• Require time off work to care for a catastrophically ill spouse, registered domestic partner or legal dependent; AND
• Exhaust all their available paid leave.

The benefit will continue while donated vacation accruals are available.

Yes, CIP is a wage replacement.

To request CIP, complete a CIP-Family Member application and submit it with supporting medical records to the City’s Department of Human Resources (DHR). Employees can find more information about the program using the links below.

Forms:

• Program Information
• Family Member Application
• Family Member Donor Form