Paid family leave: eligibility: care for designated persons.

Senator Durazo's paid family leave legislation expands California's temporary disability insurance program to cover care for "designated persons" beginning July 1, 2028. The bill allows workers to claim wage replacement benefits when taking time off to care for individuals who are related by blood or whose relationship is equivalent to family, beyond the currently covered family members.

Under the new provisions, workers requesting benefits to care for a designated person must identify that individual and attest under penalty of perjury either to their blood relation or to how their association constitutes a family-equivalent relationship. The program continues to provide up to eight weeks of benefits within any 12-month period, calculated as one-seventh of the worker's weekly benefit amount for each full day of qualifying leave.

The legislation maintains the existing benefit structure and eligibility requirements, including the need to file claims within 41 days of the first compensable day and provide required documentation. The expanded coverage will be funded through the state's Unemployment Compensation Disability Fund, which receives worker contributions based on wages and benefit disbursements.