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Military Spouse Leave
All California employers with 25 or more employees must provide a leave of absence for spouses of military personnel. This law is separate from and does not change the obligations of employers with 50 or more employees under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) to provide qualifying exigency leave and leave to care for an ill or injured service member. 
Eligibility for Military Spouse Leave. To qualify for military spouse leave, an employee must meet the following requirements:

  • Work for a qualified employer that employs 25 or more employees
  • Be the spouse of a qualified service member
  • Work an average of 20 or more hours per week
  • Provide you with notice of his/her intention to take the leave, within two business days of receiving official notice that the service member will be on leave from deployment.
  • Submit written documentation certifying that the service member will be on leave from deployment during the time the leave is requested.

The service member must meet one of the following requirements for an employee to be eligible for this type of leave:

  • Be a qualified member of the United States Armed Forces who was deployed during a period of military conflict to an area designated as a combat theater or combat zone by the president of the United States
  • Be a member of the National Guard who has been deployed during a period of military conflict
  • Be a member of the Reserves who has been deployed during a period of military conflict
Duration of Military Spouse Leave. Military spouse leave lasts for up to 10 days. The qualified military service member must be on leave from deployment during a period of military conflict.

Employee Pay During Military Spouse Leave. You are not obligated to pay nonexempt employees who are on military spouse leave. You must pay exempt employees for any day in which they perform any work. You cannot deduct from the exempt employee’s salary for a partial day of absence. If the employee requests to use sick, vacation or PTO for a partial or full day of absence, you can deduct the time from the employee’s paid time off benefit(s). If the exempt employee works a partial day and does not authorize a deduction from a paid time off benefit, the employee must be paid for the full day.

Vacation and Sick Leave and Military Spouse Leave. You can allow employees to use sick leave, vacation or PTO during military spouse leave. However, you cannot require them to do so.

Rights of Employees Returning from Military Spouse Leave. You cannot retaliate against employees who request or take military spouse leave. You must reinstate any employee to his/her position upon return from military spouse leave.