California’s Rehab Accommodation Law: Labor Code 1025, the 25-Employee Rule, and What to Ask HR Before Residential Treatment

Most people who call us about residential treatment while holding down a job ask the same question within the first five minutes: Will I still have a job when I get back? Federal and California leave laws get most of the attention, but there is an older, shorter California statute that speaks directly to rehab, and it is one that many employees, and some HR departments, have never heard of.

California Labor Code section 1025 requires every private employer that regularly employs 25 or more people to reasonably accommodate an employee who wants to voluntarily enter and participate in an alcohol or drug rehabilitation program, as long as the accommodation does not impose an undue hardship on the employer. The law does not require paid time off, but it allows the employee to use sick leave they have already earned for treatment, and the companion section 1026 requires the employer to make reasonable efforts to keep the employee’s enrollment private.

That paragraph is the core of this article. The rest explains where the rule helps, where it stops, and what to ask before you leave for treatment. This is general education, not legal advice, and an employment attorney or the California Civil Rights Department can answer questions about your specific situation.

What Labor Code 1025 Actually Says

The statute (California Labor Code section 1025) is short. Its practical pieces break down this way:

• The 25-employee threshold: The duty applies to private employers that regularly employ 25 or more people, so a small business below that line is not covered by this section.
• The word “voluntarily”: The protection is written for an employee who wishes to enter treatment, which is why asking before a workplace incident matters so much.
• Reasonable accommodation: In practice this usually means time away from work to attend a program, and sometimes a schedule change afterward for continuing care.
• Undue hardship: An employer can decline an accommodation that would impose an undue hardship, which is decided case by case.
• No paid-leave requirement: The employer does not have to pay you while you are away, but you may use sick leave you are already entitled to.
• Privacy: Section 1026 requires reasonable efforts to safeguard the fact that you enrolled in a rehabilitation program.
• The current-use exception: The law does not stop an employer from discharging or refusing to hire someone who, because of current alcohol or drug use, cannot perform the job or cannot do it safely.

How It Fits Next to FMLA, CFRA, and the ADA

Section 1025 is not the only protection, and it is rarely the strongest one on its own. It sits alongside several other laws that may apply at the same time:

• FMLA: The federal Family and Medical Leave Act covers employers with 50 or more employees and can provide up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for treatment of a serious health condition, which can include substance use disorder treatment provided by a health care provider.
• CFRA: The California Family Rights Act reaches employers with 5 or more employees and also provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave for eligible employees.
• ADA and FEHA: The federal Americans with Disabilities Act (15 or more employees) and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act (5 or more employees) can protect people with a history of substance use disorder who are not currently using illegal drugs.

The reason section 1025 still matters is the gap it fills. Someone who has worked at a company for only a few months may not yet meet the 12-month and 1,250-hour eligibility tests that FMLA and CFRA leave require. Section 1025 has no tenure test written into it. For a newer employee at a 25-person or larger company, it can be the clearest legal footing for asking to go to treatment.

Why the Order of Events Matters

In our placement work, the hardest employment situations we see are rarely about which law applies. They are about timing. These are the patterns that most often shrink a person’s options:

• Asking after an incident: When a request for treatment comes after a positive workplace test, a safety event, or a final warning, the employer may treat it as a disciplinary matter rather than a voluntary request.
• Resigning first: People sometimes quit out of shame before they ask, which gives up the accommodation, any leave protection, and often the employer health plan that would have helped pay for care.
• Telling a supervisor but not HR: A hallway conversation with a manager may never reach the people who handle leave and accommodation, so nothing is documented.
• Waiting for a bed without a plan: When the request and the admission date are not coordinated, people end up absent without approved leave.

None of this means a person who has already had a workplace incident cannot get help. It means the earlier and more formally the request is made, the more protection is usually available.

What to Do This Week: A Five-Step HR Checklist

If you are considering residential treatment and you are employed in California, these steps can be done before you ever speak to a program:

1. Count your employer. Find out roughly how many people the company regularly employs. Your employee handbook, a recent benefits notice, or HR can tell you. The lines that matter are 5, 15, 25, and 50.
2. Read the handbook’s leave and EAP sections. Many larger employers have an Employee Assistance Program that offers a confidential first conversation and can sometimes help coordinate leave.
3. Check your sick leave balance. Section 1025 allows you to use sick leave you have already accrued. Knowing the number helps you plan.
4. Put the request in writing to HR. A short email is enough. You do not have to name a substance or a diagnosis to start the conversation.
5. Verify your health coverage before you set a date. Leave status and insurance status are linked. Our team can run a free insurance verification so you know what your plan covers before you commit to an admission date, or call (877) 328-1968.

A request to HR can be as simple as: “I would like to voluntarily enter an alcohol or drug rehabilitation program. I am requesting a reasonable accommodation, including time off, and I would like information about leave options, use of my accrued sick leave, and how this request will be kept confidential.” Then ask three direct questions: Which leave programs am I eligible for? Will my health insurance continue while I am away? Who will know about this request?

Withdrawal Safety Comes Before Paperwork

Employment logistics should never push someone into stopping alcohol or sedatives abruptly to “get a head start” before a leave begins. Alcohol and benzodiazepine withdrawal can cause seizures and other life-threatening complications, and stopping either one should happen under medical supervision. If you drink daily or take benzodiazepines regularly, tell the admissions team exactly how much and how often, and ask whether medically supervised withdrawal management should come first. The National Institute on Drug Abuse describes effective treatment as addressing the whole person, including medical, psychological, social, and vocational needs (NIDA, Principles of Drug Addiction Treatment), and work is part of that picture.

Programs also use structured criteria to decide what level of care fits. The American Society of Addiction Medicine’s framework, The ASAM Criteria, is what many programs and insurers rely on, and the recommended length of stay that comes out of that assessment is often the number HR will ask you for.

How Bodhi Helps With Timing

As a treatment consulting and referral service based in Capitola, our work is matching people to appropriate licensed programs in Northern California and beyond. Because we see the admissions process from the outside, we can help line up the order of events: insurance verification, the level-of-care conversation, a realistic admission date to give HR, and a discharge plan that accounts for the return to work. Learn more about working with a treatment consultant, or call (877) 328-1968 to talk through your situation confidentially, including how to prepare for the HR conversation and the admissions call on the same day.

If you are not ready for that call, the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357 is free, confidential, and available 24 hours a day for treatment referrals and information (SAMHSA National Helpline). If you are in crisis or thinking about harming yourself, call or text 988, or call 911 in an emergency.

This article is for educational purposes only and is not medical or legal advice. Employment law questions depend on your specific facts and employer; consult an employment attorney or the California Civil Rights Department for guidance. Never stop alcohol or benzodiazepines suddenly without medical supervision. If you are experiencing a medical emergency, call 911.