FMLA

FMLA Attorney in San Diego

California Workers’ FMLA & CFRA Rights, Defended by Employee-Only Counsel

When an employer denies protected leave, cuts benefits, or retaliates against a worker for taking time they’re legally entitled to, the consequences can be immediate and serious. We represent San Diego workers whose FMLA and CFRA rights have been violated, whether through outright denial, interference, or termination after a leave request. Every case we take is built entirely on the worker’s side. We haven’t represented an employer, which means there’s no conflict of interest and no divided attention when we build your case.

Our founding attorney graduated from California Western School of Law, began practicing in 2009, and established Zakay Law Group in January 2018 with a single focus: workers’ rights. We serve employees across all of California, and consultations are available by phone, in person, or virtually.

If your employer denied your leave request, cut your benefits, or took action against you after you returned, call our FMLA attorneys at (619) 353-8032. The consultation is free, and there’s no cost to you unless we recover.

Why San Diego Workers Choose Zakay Law Group for FMLA Claims

We’ve recovered over $160 million for California workers across thousands of cases spanning wage theft, retaliation, wrongful termination, and misclassification. That total reflects a litigation approach that doesn’t limit itself by employer size or industry. We’ve handled class actions against national home improvement retailers, international hotel chains, national medical service providers, staffing companies, and trucking operations, sectors where FMLA and CFRA violations appear repeatedly and often affect entire workforces at once.

When one worker’s leave is denied or punished, it’s often not an isolated decision. We investigate whether the same conduct affected other employees and, when it did, we have the foundation and experience to pursue the case as a class action, with us acting as lead counsel. Individual workers gain access to the kind of legal capacity that typically requires a very large individual claim to justify.

What Sets Our Representation Apart

Employee-Only Practice
We don’t split our caseload between workers and employers. Every attorney, every strategy, and every filing at Zakay Law Group is developed in favor of the employee. There isn’t a situation where our interests and yours pull in different directions.

Federal & State Court Admissions
Our attorneys are admitted to practice in all California state courts and in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California and the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. FMLA claims can be filed in federal court, and we handle both state and federal tracks without referring either component to outside counsel.

Multilingual Staff
We communicate with clients in English, Spanish, and Hebrew throughout the full course of a case. San Diego’s workforce is linguistically diverse, and clear communication in your primary language directly affects how well you understand your rights and options.

Collaborative Capacity When the Case Demands It
We maintain working relationships with larger law firms and bring them in when a case requires pooled resources to pursue a major corporate defendant. Boutique firm structure doesn’t mean limited capacity.

Start with a Free Consultation

FMLA and CFRA claims are time-sensitive. Missing a filing deadline can permanently close the door on an otherwise strong case. We offer free consultations by phone, in person, or virtually for workers across California, not just in San Diego County. We take every case on a contingency fee basis: no upfront costs, no hourly fees, and no payment unless we recover for you.

Call Zakay Law Group at (619) 353-8032 to speak with an FMLA attorney in San Diego about your situation. We can tell you exactly where you stand and what options are available under California law.

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Why Choose Zakay Law Group?

The Right Firm Makes a Difference

Aggressive Representation for California Employees
We are relentless in fighting for your rights. With a mission to ensure fair treatment of all employees, we hold employers accountable and pursue justice for violations of California employment laws.
Proven Track Record of Success
Our team has recovered millions of dollars in settlements for employees, ranging from small businesses to large corporations.
Free Consultations Available
At Zakay Law Group, we believe that every employee deserves the opportunity to seek justice without barriers. That’s why we offer free consultations to all potential clients.
Personalized Service, Powerful Results
As a boutique firm we deliver personalized attention to every case, while collaborating with larger firms to pool resources, ensuring our clients receive top-tier representation against even the biggest corporations.

What FMLA & CFRA Protect

The federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 gives eligible employees at covered employers up to 12 workweeks of unpaid, job-protected leave per year for qualifying reasons. During that leave, the employer must maintain the employee’s group health coverage on the same terms as if they had continued working. When the leave ends, the employee is entitled to return to the same position or an equivalent one with equal pay, benefits, and conditions.

Leave can be taken in a single continuous block, intermittently in separate periods, or as a reduced schedule when medically necessary. Qualifying reasons include the employee’s own serious health condition (defined as a condition requiring inpatient care or continuing treatment by a health care provider), care for a family member with a serious health condition, the birth or adoption of a child, and qualifying military exigencies. California’s Family Rights Act mirrors many of those protections and, in several respects, goes further, which matters for San Diego workers navigating a leave dispute.

FMLA & CFRA Eligibility: Who Qualifies

FMLA applies to private employers with 50 or more employees within 75 miles of the worksite, all public agencies, and public and private elementary and secondary schools. An employee must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and logged at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before the leave begins.

California expanded CFRA, effective January 1, 2021, to cover employers with five or more employees, significantly broadening state-law protection beyond the federal threshold. CFRA also covers a wider circle of family members, including grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, and domestic partners, none of whom qualify under federal FMLA.

Common FMLA Violations San Diego Workers Face

Employers violate FMLA and CFRA in ways that aren’t always obvious. The most direct violations include refusing a valid leave request outright or discouraging an employee from applying. Others are subtler: cutting off health insurance during an approved leave, failing to reinstate the employee upon return, reducing pay or benefits after the leave, demoting the worker, or terminating employment with a stated reason that is pretextual for the leave.

Supervisors can be held personally liable for FMLA violations in addition to the employer entity. Recoverable damages include lost wages, lost benefits, other economic losses, and liquidated damages equal to the lost wages and benefits amount. Attorney fees may also be recovered. CFRA claims go further and allow recovery of emotional distress damages, which aren’t available under the federal law. Reinstatement to the prior position may also be available to employees who prevail on a CFRA claim.

FMLA vs. CFRA: Key Differences for California Workers

For most San Diego workers, FMLA and CFRA run concurrently when both apply, meaning an employee isn’t entitled to 12 weeks under each law separately for the same qualifying reason. But the laws diverge in ways that can significantly affect which claims are available and what a worker can recover.

CFRA doesn’t cover pregnancy disability leave. That protection comes separately under California’s Pregnancy Disability Leave Law, which means a pregnant employee may be entitled to CFRA bonding leave in addition to PDL leave rather than instead of it. CFRA also covers caring for a domestic partner with a serious health condition, a situation FMLA doesn’t address. And because CFRA allows recovery of emotional distress damages, a worker with claims under both laws may have stronger remedies by pursuing the state law track alongside the federal one.

Workers employed by a company with five or more but fewer than 50 employees have state-law protections under CFRA even without federal FMLA eligibility. That distinction matters for employees at smaller employers who might otherwise assume they have no recourse. Identifying which statute or combination of statutes provides the strongest basis for a claim requires looking closely at the specific facts of the situation.

Filing Deadlines & the FMLA Claims Process in California

Under federal law, FMLA claims must generally be filed within two years of the violation. When the employer’s conduct was willful, that window extends to three years. CFRA claims require an administrative filing with California’s Civil Rights Department before a lawsuit can proceed. The deadlines that apply depend on the type of violation and the facts involved, so speaking with an attorney as early as possible is the most reliable way to confirm which timeframe governs your situation.

Missing a filing deadline can permanently extinguish the right to pursue a claim regardless of how strong the underlying facts are. Before contacting the Department of Labor or the California Civil Rights Department, it’s worth having an attorney assess your situation first. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division enforces FMLA for private and government employees and can receive complaints directly, but the sequence and timing of steps matter.

In the meantime, workers can take practical steps to protect their claim:

Document every communication with the employer about the leave request
Preserve records of any adverse action that followed the leave
Note the timeline between the leave and any demotion, termination, or change in pay

That documentation becomes the factual foundation for establishing whether the employer’s stated reason for the adverse action was pretextual and whether a pattern affecting other employees exists alongside your own claim.

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