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Harrison Street Suite 120
san francisco, california 94107
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Domestic Violence & Employment
Job-Guaranteed time off to go to court
your legal rights
Domestic violence survivors often need to take time off from their jobs to go to court to testify against a batterer or to get a restraining order to protect themselves and their children. Under California Labor Code 230, which is part of the "Survivors of Domestic Violence Employment Leave Act," survivors of domestic violence are entitled to job-guaranteed time off from work to testify in court as a witness or to ensure the health and safety of themselves and their children.
1. Who can take time off under this law?
California Labor Code Section 230 allows all California employees, including domestic violence survivors, to take time off work to serve on juries and to testify in court to comply with a subpoena or other court order. For example, when the district attorney is prosecuting a batterer, the domestic violence survivor can take leave from work to testify against the batterer.
This law also entitles employees who are domestic violence survivors to take leave
from work to go to court to get a restraining order. However, employees must identify themselves as survivors of
domestic violence to their employer in order to obtain the benefits of this part of the law.
For the purpose of this law, "domestic violence" is defined as abuse perpetrated against:
• a spouse or former spouse;
2. What types of
court hearings can a domestic violence survivor take time off from work
to attend?
Domestic violence
survivors may take time off from work to obtain assistance from court to ensure one's own
health, safety, or welfare, or that of one's child. This assistance includes a temporary
restraining order, restraining order, or other "injunctive" relief.
3. What notice must employees give to employers to take this job-guaranteed leave?
An employee must give his or her employer reasonable advance notice of the employee's intention
to take time off, unless the advance notice is not possible. Therefore, it is best for the employee
to tell the employer as soon as possible about the upcoming absence from work.
• a police report indicating that the employee is a domestic violence survivor;
4. Can a domestic violence survivor get paid for this job-guaranteed leave?
Labor Code Section 230 allows employees to use paid vacation, personal leave or
compensatory time off for this leave.
5. Can a domestic violence
survivor be fired or demoted for taking leave described under these laws?
No. Employers are prohibited from firing, threatening to fire, demoting,
suspending, retaliating or discriminating against an employee who is a survivor of domestic violence for taking
leave from work for the reasons described above.
6. What can a survivor of domestic
violence do if he or she is fired or harassed for taking this leave?
Employees are entitled to get their jobs back and be paid for lost wages and
work benefits caused by the illegal acts of their employer. An employer who refuses to rehire, promote, or
otherwise restore an employee or former employee who is eligible for rehiring or promotion by a grievance
procedure or a hearing also is guilty of a misdemeanor.
7. Do survivors of domestic violence have any other rights to take leave from work?
Yes. California Labor Code Section 230.1 entitles domestic violence survivors to job-guaranteed leave to
obtain medical attention, assistance from domestic violence shelters or programs, counseling, or workplace
safety planning. This law covers employers with 25 or more employees. [Please see the Fact Sheet entitled
"Job-Guaranteed Time Off to Obtain Services."]
8. Where can a domestic violence
survivor get help regarding his or her employment rights?
An employee who is fired, threatened with termination, demoted,
suspended, or in any other way retaliated or discriminated against by his or her employer because he or
she has exercised these rights may file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner at the Division of Labor
Standards Enforcement. Labor Commissioner offices are located throughout California. The number for the
Labor Commissioner office nearest to you can be found in the government pages in your telephone directory or
on the Internet at www.dir.ca.gov/dlse. An employee has one year from the date of the termination, demotion,
or other form of discrimination to file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner.
An employee who is fired, threatened with termination, demoted, suspended,
or in any other way retaliated or discriminated against by his or her employer because he or she has exercised
these rights may file a complaint with the Labor Commissioner at the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement.
Labor Commissioner offices are located throughout California. The number for the Labor Commissioner office
nearest to you can be found in the government pages in your telephone directory or on the Internet at
www.dir.ca.gov/dlse.
An employee has one year from the date of the termination, demotion, or other form of discrimination to file a complaint
with the Labor Commissioner.
This project was supported by Grant No. 2005-WL-AX-0013 awarded by the Office on Violence Against Women, U.S.
Department of Justice. The opinions, findings, conclusions, and recommendations expressed in this
publication/program/exhibition are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the
Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women.
For further information about your employment rights, call:
• a registered domestic partner or former domestic partner;
• a child of the perpetrator;
• a person with whom the perpetrator is living or has previously lived with;
• a person the perpetrator has dated or is currently dating;
• a person the perpetrator has had a child with; or
• a person otherwise related by blood to the perpetrator in certain circumstances.
This law may cover many types of situations, including time off from work to
attend child support, child custody, or divorce court hearings as long as the purpose of
the hearing is to ensure the health, safety, or welfare of the domestic violence survivor
or his or her child.
If the appointment is unscheduled, or the leave is taken to respond to an emergency or crisis, the
employee may be required to provide the employer with written documentation of his or her status as a
domestic violence survivor within a reasonable time after the absence from work. That written
documentation (or "certification,") which the employer must keep confidential, can be any of the following:
• a court order protecting or separating the employee from the batterer, or other
documentation from the court or the prosecuting attorney that the employee has appeared in court; or
• documentation from a medical professional, domestic violence advocate, health care provider,
or counselor that the employee was undergoing treatment for physical or mental injuries or abuse caused by domestic violence.
The Domestic Violence & Employment Project
(888) 864-8335 Toll-free in California (415) 593-0033 Outside California
The Domestic Violence and Employment Project is a Project of the Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center (LAS-ELC). The LAS-ELC is a non-profit organization focusing on the employment-related legal rights of low-income workers and providing free legal information on a wide range of employment-related problems.
600
Harrison Street Suite 120
san francisco, california 94107
tel:
415 864 8848 www.las-elc.org