March 17, 2015 The Honorable Hannah

Board of Directors
Board President
Lois Thompson
Partner
Proskauer Rose LLP
Board Treasurer
Chris Hollinger
Partner
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
Board Secretary
Cathy Kim
Director, Corporate Development
Arzon Solar, Inc.
Members
Tony Blain
Principal
Blain & Associates
Samantha Caldwell
Vice President, Assistant General
Counsel and Assistant Secretary
Health Net Inc.
Christa M. Demeke
Counsel
Roll Law Group P.C.
Truc Do
Partner
Jones Day LLP
Mira El Sonbaty
Senior Counsel, Privacy
Fox Group Legal
Theane Evangelis
Partner
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Mayra Fornos
Founder
Fornos Law Firm
Victor George
Principal
Law Offices of Victor George
Esra Hudson
Partner
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP
Shawn Khorrami
Principal
Khorrami Boucher LLP
Edie Mermelstein, Esq.
Law Offices of F. Edie Mermelstein
Pamela Palmer
Partner
Pepper Hamilton LLP
Laura Petroff
Partner
Winston & Strawn LLP
Interim Executive Director
March 17, 2015
The Honorable Hannah-Beth Jackson
State Capitol
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: SB 406 (Jackson) – Support
Dear Senator Jackson:
On behalf of the California Women’s Law Center (CWLC), I am writing in support of SB
406. This bill will extend job-protected leave to more California workers when they
need to take time off to care for a seriously ill family member or bond with a new child.
SB 406 will lower the employer threshold under the California Family Rights Act
(CFRA) and extend CFRA protections to align with the recently expanded Paid Family
Leave Program to workers who care for seriously ill adult children, siblings,
grandparents, grandchildren and parents-in-law.
CWLC is the first law center in California solely dedicated to addressing the
comprehensive and unique legal needs of women and girls. Since its founding in 1989,
CWLC has worked to eliminate the barriers that keep women and girls in poverty and
advance the potential of women and girls through transformative litigation, policy
advocacy and education.
CWLC supports changing the current CFRA restrictions on family caregiving to account
for the diversity of California households and the importance of caregiving by extended
family members. California has the second highest percentage of multi-generational
households in the country, and, in a recent study of caregivers of Alzheimer’s patients,
over 40% of caregivers were not covered under the narrow definition of family in
CFRA. Additionally, we applaud your effort to extend this job protection to the more
than 40% of Californians who work for a company that employs 50 or fewer
employees.
SB 406 recognizes the importance of family caregiving and helps workers caring for
family members balance the demands of work and family. CWLC is pleased to support
SB 406 and we urge all legislators to join you in supporting SB 406.
Sincerely,
Betsy Butler
Interim Executive Director
Betsy Butler
360 North Sepulveda Boulevard, Suite 2070 | El Segundo, CA 90245
Phone: 323-951-1041 | Fax: 323-951-9870
Email: info@cwlc.org | Web: cwlc.org