Leaves of Absence

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Family Medical Leave

The Family Medical Leave (FML) grants up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a 12-month period to eligible employees. FML may be used for the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of an employee’s child. It may also be used while an employee is off work because of a serious illness, or to care for a seriously ill family member. While on an approved FML, the CSU pays its portion of health, dental, and vision premiums; the employee is responsible for his/her portion of the premium. Employees are eligible to apply for FML after one year of employment.

To apply for Family Medical Leave (FML), please contact the Benefits Services Office at HRLeaves@csudh.edu to confirm eligibility and obtain the applicable forms. An employee requesting FML for self must exhaust all sick and vacation credits and personal holiday. Employees requesting FML to care for a family member must exhaust all vacation credits and personal holiday.

An approved Family Medical Leave assures the employee of the right to return to his/her former classification upon returning to work status.

Unpaid Leaves of Absence

A leave of absence without pay grants a full leave or partial leave for up to one year. A leave without pay applies to all eligible full-time temporary, probationary, and permanent staff employees and part-time employees who have permanent status. An approved leave without pay provides the employee the right to return to a position in his/her former classification. A leave of absence must approved by an applicable Administrator. A leave without pay may be granted for various reasons, including:

  • Extended sick leave
  • Family leave including childbirth, adoption, or serious health condition of a family member
  • Educational leave
  • Professional leave
  • Other satisfactory reasons

CATASTROPHIC LEAVE

Employees are eligible to receive catastrophic leave donations due to their own catastrophic illness or injury or that of an immediate family member.

Immediate family member includes:

  • The employee's spouse or domestic partner;
  • The employee's, spouse's or domestic partner's parent, grandparent, great-grandparent, sibling, child or grandchild (including foster, adopted and step);
  • The employee's son-in-law, daughter-in-law;
  • A person living in the immediate household of the employee, except domestic employees, roomers, boarders, and/or roommates.

To Receive Catastrophic Leave Donations

  • You must have exhausted all accrued leave credits (sick leave, vacation, compensatory time off, etc.) due to a catastrophic illness or injury that has incapacitated you from work.
  • If eligible, the applicant must apply for Non-industrial Disability Insurance (NDI), or receiving Industrial Disability Leave (IDL) or Temporary Disability (TD) benefits.
  • Contact Diana Diaz, Benefits Manager at (310) 243-3005 or didiaz@csudh.edu to obtain the Leave of Absence Request form. On the form, indicate Yes for NDI and Catastrophic Leave Donations.
  • A doctor's note must accompany the request form and indicate any special circumstances that cause the illness or injury to be catastrophic. (Not all illnesses or injuries that disable an employee from working qualify as catastrophic.)
  • The total donated leave credits you may receive cannot exceed three calendar months from the first day of catastrophic leave.
  • In exceptional cases, an additional three calendar month period may be approved.
  • Please submit FMLA, Leave of Absence Request Form and doctor’s note directly to Benefits Services through our secure dropbox HR Medical Related Supporting Document Submission.

To Donate Catastrophic Leave Credits

  • You may donate up to 40 hours of your accrued vacation or sick leave credits per fiscal year, based upon your bargaining contract.
  • Donated leave credits may not necessarily be deducted in the same calendar or fiscal year that the form is signed.
  • Leave credits are transferred in the order pledged on the Catastrophic Donation Form and are not deemed donated until transferred by Payroll to the recipient.

    Catastrophic Leave Maximum Donation Limits

    Employee Category

    Maximum Donation Hours

    Academic Student Employees (Unit 11 - TAs Only)

    16

    Physicians (R01)
    CSUEU (Unit 2,5,7,9)
    Faculty (Unit 3)
    Academic Support (Unit 4)
    Skilled Crafts (Unit 6)
    Public Safety (Unit 8)
    Confidential (C99)
    Management Personnel Plan (MPP) (M80)
    Executives (M98)
    Excluded (E99)

    40

CAT Leave Forms

Parental Leave (formerly called Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Leave)

Parental Leave is a paid leave of up to 30 working days (20 days for Unit 1 employees), associated with the birth of an employee’s child or the placement of a child with the employee through adoption or foster care. This type of absence is not charged against the employee's leave credits, and the amount of paid days received is based on employee category.

  • Parental leave is in addition to available sick and vacation leave.
  • The scheduling of leave may be modified with mutual consent of the supervisor and employee to meet operational needs.
  • Leave runs concurrently with any other related leave to which an employee is entitled.
  • Leave must commence within 60 days of the child's arrival (excluding Faculty).
  • Faculty must commence leave within a 135 day period beginning within 60 days prior to the anticipated arrival date of a new child and ending seventy five days after the arrival.
  • Days to be taken consecutively, unless mutually agreed to and pre-approved in writing by the employee and the appropriate administrator(s).​
  • Health benefits will continue while an employee is on a paid Parental Leave.
  • Vacation and sick leave credits will continue to accrue during paid Parental Leave.

Reproductive Loss Leave

Senate Bill (SB) 848 (Chapter 724) was signed by Governor Newsom on October 10, 2023, and is effective January 1, 2024. This bill requires employers (with five or more employees) to provide eligible employees with up to five days unpaid leave for a reproductive related loss. This leave is separate from other leaves offered to employees for their serious illness or to care for a family member with a serious illness.

Beginning January 1, 2024, it is also unlawful for an employer to refuse to grant an eligible employee’s request to take up to five days of reproductive loss leave following a reproductive loss event. If an employee experienced multiple reproductive loss events within a 12-month period, an employer shall not be obligated to grant a total amount of reproductive loss leave time in excess of 20 days within a 12-month period (i.e., employee experiences four reproductive loss events with a maximum of five days reproductive loss leave totaling 20 days).

A reproductive loss event is defined as the day or, for a multiple-day event, the final day of a:

  • Failed adoption
  • Failed surrogacy Miscarriage
  • Stillbirth Unsuccessful assisted reproduction

Additional Leave Information

Contact Information

For general questions about leave of absences, please contact HRLeaves@csudh.edu or call (310) 243-3771.

Please submit your Leaves Form or other leaves related documents to Benefits Services by uploading to the CSUDH HR Medical Related Supporting Document dropbox: