Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Monday that increases the amount of pay employers must give workers who take time off to care for their family.
Brown said he wants to create a "more decent and empathetic kind of community."
Californians can take up to six weeks off work to bond with a new child or care for sick family members and receive 55 percent of their wages.
The measure increases the pay to 60 percent of wages starting in 2018 and creates a new classification for low-income workers to receive 70 percent of their pay.
There was little opposition voiced in the state Legislature. Last week Brown signed legislation boosting California's minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2022.