Los Angeles City Council Approves Reproductive Loss Leave Policy under New State Law

LOS ANGELES – In compliance with a new state law, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved an ordinance granting all city employees up to five days off following a reproductive loss. The motion was passed without prior discussion and saw absenteeism from council members Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Bob Blumenfield, and Katy Yaroslavsky during the vote.
Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 848 into law last year, allowing employees to take leave for reproductive losses that came into effect on January 1st this year. The legislation provides eligible workers with up to five days of unpaid time off within a twelve-month period following failed adoptions, stillbirths, miscarriages, and unfruitful assisted reproduction procedures such as intrauterine insemination after thirty working days on the job.
The leave can be taken consecutively or nonconsecutively during regular work hours assigned to employees based on their usual schedules. Employees may use unpaid time off, accrued unused sick and vacation leaves, compensatory time-off, or a combination of these benefits for reproductive loss periods as well. These allowances need to be taken within three months following the event’s occurrence.
In cases where employees experience multiple losses in twelve consecutive months, they are entitled only up to twenty days off under this policy. Employers must also maintain confidentiality regarding requests and any information obtained about reproductive loss leave and prohibit disclosure except as necessary for internal personnel or counsel or by law requirements.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that approximately 24,000 babies are stillborn in the United States annually while Johns Hopkins Medicine states miscarriages occur during around fifteen percent of pregnancies.