California Small Businesses Can Apply Now for Up to $2,000 Per Employee for Paid Family Leave Grants

Small businesses across California can now receive grants of up to $2,000 per employee through California’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) program. The online application is now open.

This initiative, funded by the California Employment Training Panel and the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency, aims to support small businesses in managing additional costs when employees take leave. These grants can help cover expenses such as cross-training existing staff and hiring and training new or temporary employees, ensuring business continuity during employee absences.

California’s PFL program provides eligible employees with up to eight weeks of wage replacement benefits when they are off work for certain qualifying reasons, such as bonding with a new child or caring for a seriously ill family member. The grant is available to small businesses with 1 to 100 employees that have at least one employee utilizing PFL on or after June 1, 2024.

Grants are available in the following amounts:

• Businesses with 51–100 employees may receive up to $1,000 per employee utilizing Paid Family Leave.
• Businesses with 1–50 employees may receive up to $2,000 per employee utilizing Paid Family Leave.

To qualify, businesses must:

• Employ between 1 and 100 employees;
• Be registered to do business in the State of California;
• Be in active status with the office of the California Secretary of State;
• Have an active California Employer Account Number under which employees are listed for payroll and
• Have at least one employee on California’s Paid Family Leave on or after June 1, 2024.

Applications for the grant are available via CaliforniaPFL.com.