2026 California Employment Law Update: Designated Person for Paid Family Leave

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Passed in late 2025, California Senate Bill 590 will, commencing July 1, 2028, expand eligibility for benefits under the paid family leave program to include individuals who take time off work to care for a seriously ill designated person. The bill defines designated person to mean “any care recipient related by blood or whose association with the individual is the equivalent of a family relationship.”

In addition, the bill will require an individual that requests, for the first time, family temporary disability insurance benefits to care for a designated person to identify the designated person and, under penalty of perjury, attest to how the individual is related by blood to the designated person, or how the individual’s association with the designated person is the equivalent of a family relationship.

In sum, this bill allows for an increased scope for employees who take time off to care for others and grant an increased scope of benefits to employees who take time off to care for a seriously ill designated person.

Recommendations for employers

Employers should consider requesting all employees who are taking first time temporary disability insurance benefits to care for a designated person to sign a declaration under penalty of perjury and attest how the individual is related by blood to the designated person or show equivalent of a family relationship. It is also important to understand that the scope has increased, and employees can now take time off to care for a blood relative or someone they have the equivalent of a family relationship with.