# Baby bonding FMLA leave employee lawyer to sue job > Lawyer for baby bonding 12 week leave of absence employee rights, job terminations, FMLA, not reinstated to work Source: https://employeelawca.com/baby-bonding-lawyer/ Firm: Employment Lawyers Group — employee-side employment lawyers since 1993. Serving Los Angeles County, California. Phone: (323) 525-1600 (calling is the fastest way to reach the legal team) Office: 13418 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks, CA 91423 Contact form: https://employeelawca.com/contact/ Consultations are free and confidential; cases are taken on contingency. --- While mothers have a lot of workplace rights, the begging question is what workplace rights fathers have due to the new baby? In 2021 the California version of the Family Medical Act called the California Family Rights Act (California Government Code Section 12945.2) was amended to allow both men and women to take time off from work for baby bonding. ### **Men and women can miss up to 12 weeks of work to bond with a baby if:** 1. They have worked at the company for at least one year prior to the [baby bonding leave](https://employeelawca.com/local-baby-bonding-leave-lawyer/) 2. They worked more than 1,250 hours at the company during the last year 3. The company they want leave from has 5 or more employees in a 75 mile radius 4. The leave is taken within a year of the birth of the child. Fathers who meet all the requirements for California baby bonding leave are supposed to be returned to a comparable position after the leave. Mothers also have rights, including to a leave of absence, under California Government Code Section 12945 which protects [women who are pregnant](https://employeelawca.com/pregnancy-attorney/). Baby bonding leave cases under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), via California Government Code Section 12945.2, subject the losing employer to having to pay the attorney fees and costs of the employee who sues. To recap, men and women may now take off up to 3 months from work merely to baby bond if they have worked at the company at least 12 months, at least 1,250 hours in the last year, and the job has at least 20 employees in a 75 mile radius of where the employee works. New fathers can be fired because they want baby bonding if they work for a company with less than 20 employees in a 75 mile radius, or they are essentially part time working only 20 hours a week. The right not to be fired due to baby bonding has nothing to do with whether a man can get 6 weeks of partial pay through the EDD for baby bonding or the birth of a child. Baby bonding is a separate issue than needing to care for a child with a serious medical condition or permanent disability. ***CALL (323) 525-1600** FOR A BABY BONDING LAWYER* WE RECENTLY RECOVERED $165,000 FOR A DAD DENIED BABY BONDING AT A CAR DEALERSHIP ## Family Medical Leave Does Not Cover Baby Bonding [The Federal Family Medical Leave Act](https://employeelawca.com/job-termination-family-medical-leave/) does not really cover baby bonding. There are some federal cases stating that if the employer offered baby bonding in their written policies they were equitably estopped from claiming they were not offering baby bonding, but the Federal FMLA did not actually cover baby bonding. Being equitably estopped does not ensure the rights and remedies of the FMLA. The California Family Rights Leave Act (CFRA) requires at least one year of work at a company of 50 or more employees in a 75 mile radius, and 1,250 or more hours of work. Employees who satisfy these prongs are entitled to leave for reason of the birth of a child of the employee, the placement of a child with an employee in connection with the adoption or foster care of the child by the employee, or the serious health condition of a child of the employee. Nothing in the CFRA guarantees a right for general baby bonding. Nothing states the birth of a child means getting to know the child. This act was originally merely intended to protect a male employee who had to actually care for the child or the mother of the child because the mother perhaps had a C-Section and could not move for a week, or was suffering some type of serious medical condition the father of the child had to actually care for. Family Medical Leave and CFRA are not Childcare Statutes The Family Medical Leave Act and the California Family Rights Leave Act were never intended to be day care statutes. In other words, missing time to care for a child who is not suffering from a serious medical condition is beyond the coverage of FMLA or CFRA. The hard question is what if the employee has to care for a child who is five days old? What if the child is one month old and does not have a serious medical condition, but the parent must miss work because their daycare is closed? Do fathers have different rights than mothers in these situations? Questions like these must be answered in consultation with an experienced leave of absence lawyer. Employees who need to take time off from work due to the discipline of a [child at school](https://employeelawca.com/fired-school-visit/) have rights. Employees must also be able to use half of the sick days they would accrue in a six month period in order to care for a child. ***CALL (323) 525-1600** FOR A LEAVE OF ABSENCE LAWYER* ## Family Medical Leave and CFRA are Not Childcare Statutes The Family Medical Leave Act and the California Family Rights Leave Act were never intended to be day care statutes. In other words, missing time to care for a child who is not suffering from a serious medical condition is beyond the coverage of FMLA or CFRA. The hard question is what if the employee has to care for a child who is five days old? What if the child is one month old and does not have a serious medical condition, but the parent must miss work because their daycare is closed? Do fathers have different rights than mothers in these situations? Questions like these must be answered in consultation with an experienced leave of absence lawyer. Employees who need to take time off from work due to the discipline of a [child at school](https://employeelawca.com/fired-school-visit/) have rights. Employees must also be able to use half of the sick days they would accrue in a six month period in order to care for a child. ***Call (323) 525-1600** for a legal consultation about a baby bonding rights.* ## Our Firm: No Upfront Fees or Costs ### Contingency Fee Representation All employment cases for employees are taken on a **contingency basis**. We are only paid a fee **when and if we win** your case, and we **advance all litigation costs**. Our goal is to make expert legal representation accessible to every hardworking employee. ### Serving Los Angeles County We have proudly served all of Los Angeles County since 1993. Ready to discuss your case? (323) 525-1600 Submit A Contact Form The Employment Lawyers Group has successfully handled 2,000+ Separate California Employment Cases ## Media Engagements ## Sample Case Results breach of commission contract $1,150,000 Unpaid commissions of two plaintiffs unpaid wages $875,000 For 4 oil field service industry workers whose times worked were not recorded on timesheets and were on-call forced to work without pay standby pay case $800,000 Controlled stand by class action settlement Disclaimer: These results are based on the facts of these specific cases and do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any future case. ## Practice Areas [Discrimination Age, Disability, FMLA/CFRA, Gender, National Origin, Pregnancy, Race, and Sexual Orientation discrimination claims.](https://employeelawca.com/discrimination-lawyer-in-los-angeles/) [Unpaid Wages & Overtime Recovering earnings for overtime, bonuses, commissions, meal & rest break violations, and prevailing wage claims.](https://employeelawca.com/unpaid-wages/) [Sexual Harassment Compassionate and effective representation for sexual harassment and hostile work environment claims.](https://employeelawca.com/sexual-harassment/) [Wrongful Termination Representing employees terminated in violation of public policy, contracts, or California and federal law.](https://employeelawca.com/wrongful-termination/) [Leaves & Retaliation Protecting employees who face adverse actions after reporting illegal activity or taking protected medical leave.](https://employeelawca.com/absences/) [Whistleblowers Advocating for employees who report fraud, waste, or abuse under California and federal whistleblower protection laws.](https://employeelawca.com/los-angeles-financial-whistleblower/) ## Our California Locations ### Bakersfield [BakersfieldLaborAttorney.com](https://bakersfieldlaborattorney.com) 5401 Business Park S, #214, Bakersfield CA 93309 [(661) 412-9600](tel:6614129600) ### Los Angeles [EmployeeLawCA.com](https://employeelawca.com/) 611 Wilshire Blvd, #1023, Los Angeles CA 90017 [(323) 525-1600](tel:3235251600) ### Orange County [WorkLawyerOC.com](https://worklawyeroc.com) 2522 Chambers Rd, #100, Tustin CA 92780 [(714) 210-8000](tel:7142108000) ### Riverside [RiversideEmploymentLawyer.com](https://riversideemploymentlawyer.com) 9496 Magnolia Ave, #208, Riverside CA 92503 [(951) 367-1000](tel:9513671000) ### Sacramento [SacramentoLaborAttorney.com](https://sacramentolaborattorney.com) 777 Campus Commons Rd, #200, Sacramento CA 95825 [(916) 340-0000](tel:9163400000) ### San Bernardino [EmploymentAttorneySanBernardino.com](https://employmentattorneysanbernardino.com) 337 N. 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Market St, #300, San Jose CA 95113 [(877) 525-0700](tel:8775250700) ### Sherman Oaks [WorkLawyerCA.com](https://worklawyerca.com) 13418 Ventura Blvd, Sherman Oaks CA 91423 [(818) 783-7300](tel:8187837300) ### Torrance / South Bay [JobTerminationLaw.com](https://jobterminationlaw.com/) 3655 Torrance Blvd, 3rd Floor, Torrance CA 90503 [(310) 842-8600](tel:3108428600) ### Ventura / Oxnard [VenturaEmploymentLawyer.com](https://venturaemploymentlawyer.com) 4030 West Hemlock St, Oxnard CA 93035 [(805) 200-0100](tel:8052000100) ### Additional Sites [BostonLaborLaw.com](https://bostonlaborlaw.com) [DcLaborAttorney.com](https://dclaborattorney.com) [FresnoEmployeeLawyer.com](https://fresnoemployeelawyer.com) [JobLawyer.net](https://joblawyer.net) [MarylandLaborAttorney.com](https://marylandlaborattorney.com/) [ModemStud.com](https://modemstud.com) [VintageLosAngeles.org](https://vintagelosangeles.org) [WorkplaceLawyer.org](https://workplacelawyer.org) ## About Firm Founder, Karl Gerber Firm Founder, **Karl Gerber**, has been an employment and wrongful termination attorney since **1993**. He has represented a wide range of employees throughout California. Mr. Gerber has won **51 of the binding arbitrations and jury trials** he first chaired, and a number of his appeals are published. This deep trial experience is the foundation of the firm's strategic approach to litigation. The employment attorneys employed by the Employment Lawyers Group have worked at the firm well in excess of five years, have also tried many different labor cases, and have all been **extensively trained on employment and wrongful termination law by Karl Gerber**. [Meet Karl Gerber](https://employeelawca.com/karl-gerber/) ## Ready to Discuss Your Case? Your rights as an employee matter. Submit a contact form and we'll get back to you. Submit A Contact Form [Call (323) 525-1600 Now](tel:3235251600)