Are there laws regarding reinstatement following an unpaid employee-requested leave of absence? We have an employee who will taking three months off for personal reasons (not family, not medical; they simply have something else they want to do for three months). Do we have to guarantee reinstatement? In the initial conversation (he has notified us about a month in advance), we said that if one of the people filling in for him takes off and does a great job, we may have to make the switch for the greater good of the job, and he said that he completely understood that he would be taking that risk. Is that an okay thing to do, as long as it is agreed to in writing by both employer and employee?

Unless California is weirder than I thought, you don't need that in writing.

The employee, not covered by FMLA or any other law, can take off and risk having the job filled by someone else.

I certainly would not gaurantee reinstatement for a personal absence of three months not required by law. I would offer to reinstate IF a position was available and the employee had not burnt his bridges, but not a guarantee.

Agree with Scott. I would simply tell the employee that if there is a position for them at the end of the 3 months, great, but you aren't guaranteeing anything. No, even in CA you don't have to hold a job for someone just because they found something they would rather do for 3 months. In fact, you don't have to grant the leave at all.

Thank you for the replies. I was reasonably confident that we didn't have to guarantee anything, but I'm new in this position and wanted to have some additional assurance before taking my recommendation back to the GM. Our company insists on having everything in writing, so the wording will go to our attorney before being signed. Thanks again for you help!