Hellobee

Wow, I would have loved to get 24 weeks! My state offers no paid leave, and neither does my company. I was eligible for FMLA and took the maximum 12 weeks. I used up all my sick and vacation time to get paid part of my salary for about 7 weeks, and then took the remainder unpaid.

Awesome that you get 6 months maternity leave! My friend works at PwC and got 6 months too. It was the first time I had heard of such long leave in CA.

Wowza, 6 months at 80% pay (for most of it)?! Maybe we should trade lives…I mean, just kidding…sort of…

Don’t tell anyone I said that or they’ll kick me out of Texas.

That’s great info! I live in CA and will definitely save this post for future reference

Ummm…we’re pretty lucky and a bit spoiled here in canada. We get 18 weeks for maternity leave and 34 for parental leave (which can be taken by mom or dad or both at the same time). I It works out to be a whole year. I work for a hospital and able to get top up to 84% of my salary for 6 months, otherwise it’s EI that maxed out at 44k ish/yr.

I live in California! ^_^ I only did the leave that gave me some partial pay so I was out for about 4.5ish months.

I was really worried about the paper work too but it turned out not to be so bad at all. What really helped me was carrying a filing folder with me to appointments and reading the papers twice. Also my HR department was really helpful if I had any questions they usually had the answer probably because of dealing with this probably a bunch of times.

My state just requires that you get some “reasonable” leave, which I think is interpreted at 6 weeks unpaid. You have to work at a place for a year to qualify for FMLA here in Montana. I think I’m going to take 6-8 weeks, and maybe get a week or so of that as paid sick leave from our sick leave fund. My husband will have a week of paid sick leave and a few days extra of paid comp time. I work part time, so I don’t think it will be hell going back…but it’s still ridiculous. We need maternity leave reform!!

@tng: We here in the states are all VERY aware and so jealous of the amount of maternity leave you get in Canada! If only~ In my dreams…

@Raindrop: What kind of appointments did you have to go to?

@jedeve: We so do!! I think longer maternity leaves would actually improve our workforce, not take away from it. No wonder so many choose not to return to work after having children… it’s hard! It’s ridiculous to expect us to recover in 6 weeks, then expect us to breastfeed our children for an entire year.

I’m in CA and have been doing my own research/preparation too… I have a few possible corrections/clarifications to what you posted, though I’m not 100% sure on any of this…

CA short term disability insurance is state-mandated, and comes right out of your paycheck just like tax withholdings. I believe it shows up as “SDI” on your paystub, so it’s not something you would have to opt-in to. Maybe small businesses aren’t required to participate though?

You can start the pre-delivery disability 4 weeks prior to your EDD, but it doesn’t suddenly expire if you’re past due. So if you don’t give birth until 42 weeks, you’d actually get 6 weeks disability pre-delivery. It’s “use it or lose it” though, so if you keep working until a few days before delivery you still only get 6 weeks post-delivery. Oh and of course if your doc puts you on bed rest earlier than that they just need to fill out the same form and you get paid for disability as long as you need it. The one thing I’m still unclear on is this: if I’m reading the info right, I believe you have to be on disability leave for 7 days before benefits kick in, so while you get 4 weeks disability leave pre-EDD, you only get paid for 3 of those weeks? And since I don’t think you can submit your paperwork until you actually start your leave, it’ll probably be a few more weeks before you actually get your benefits check.

Paid Family Leave benefits can kick in as soon as disability benefits run out, and it’s the same amount (55%), but the big difference, if I’m reading this correctly, is that disability benefits are not taxed at the federal level, while the PFL is taxed. So if you’re in, say, the 25% tax bracket, That 55% starts to look more like 40%…. but I don’t think it’s withheld from your benefits check or anything, so you’ll just owe a little more in taxes in April?? Okay, I’m not super clear on that part, so sorry if I have that wrong. Oh! And unlike disability, PFL doesn’t have to be taken all at once, it can be taken any time in the first year. I think. And father is eligible for 6 weeks of PFL any time in the first year too. AND you can use PFL benefits if you adopt a baby. Okay, I think that’s everything I learned. Maybe. But if anyone can confirm or correct me, I’d be greatly obliged.

@kirstkat: I intentionally didn’t add all those details in this post because I didn’t want to confuse people too much (like the 7 days waiting period your first week of PDL and the “use it or lose it” rule). I figured I would give the basic gist of the laws and as people do their own research they will discover some of this stuff. But yes, my first week of disability would be unpaid, but they apply mandatory PTO time on it to automatically make it “paid”.

You’re right that PFL can be taken anytime within the first year, so technically you can split it up into chunks if you want to. And yes, father’s are eligibility for all the state disability benefits too as long as they also work for a company over 50 employees and has been with the company for over a year! Unfortunately, my husband’s company doesn’t meet this requirement so he is using all his PTO to get a measly 2 weeks off. That’s probably why SDI doesn’t show up on his paycheck – his company probably doesn’t have to participate since they have about 45 employees.

Sounds like you did great research and your assumptions are in line with mine. All this is confusing stuff – I wonder how many people are qualified for these benefits but don’t know about them!

@kirstkat: I did have to “opt-in” to get the supplemental insurance on top of the standard STD insurance. That’s how I was able to get 80% of my pay covered instead of the typical 55-60%.

I’m so jealous. Although I live in California, I can’t take advantage of these leave policies because I work for the federal government, so I can’t pay into the State’s SDI.

Wow… I really need to look into STD for my next child.

oh just my doctor appointments, the nurses and the staff was really helpful in helping me transverse through the paper work and telling me what was the correct time to turn them in. I’m a type-A and wanted to hand them in right away but you can’t really do that. ^_^

@Mrs. High Heels: @kirstkat: for the paid family leave time and disability, you don’t have to work at a company with 50 or more as state disability is taken out of small business paychecks (anyone with payrolls of more than $100 per quarter) as well. it’s just job security for the unpaid time off for the 50+ employees. i work for a small business so my job isn’t federally or state-protected, but they don’t pay for my disability insurance, i do and then state then pays me. since my work is fine with me taking the full 12 weeks after delivery (disability plus PFLT), i am taking it with my 55% from the state.

Here’s a fact sheet on CA PFTL: http://www.edd.ca.gov/pdf_pub_ctr/de8714cf.pdf

And one on CA DI: http://www.edd.ca.gov/pdf_pub_ctr/de8714c.pdf

can you tell that i’m going to get ready to file in the next month?

@birdofafeather: Thanks for that info! Then I don’t know what DH is talking about when he says he doesn’t see SDI taken out of his paycheck. I’ll have him check again, but that means he still doesn’t qualify for the state benefits right since his company is “less than” (just barely) 50 employees?

@Mrs. High Heels: does he work for the government? if that’s the case, then maybe they don’t take disability (mine just said DI on my stub) but otherwise, all companies that pay more than $100 per quarter in payroll are required to take it (with some other exceptions). nothing to do with company size at all.

From the FAQ: “PFL is a component of the State Disability Insurance (SDI) program and workers covered by SDI are also
covered for this benefit.”

“• An employee may file a claim for PFL benefits for the
following reasons:
– To care for a seriously ill child, spouse, parent, or
registered domestic partner;
– To bond with a new child; or
– To bond with a child in connection with the adoption
or foster care placement of that child.”

“For bonding, PFL is limited to the first year after the
birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
A separate certification must be completed for leave
associated with the birth, adoption, or foster care
placement of a child.”

Again, his employer may not protect his job and I think may even require that he use his PTO up first, so that’s the info he might be getting from HR? it’s really the job-protected stuff that is different for us “less than 50 employee” company workers. but he can still get paid as long as disability is being paid into.

I work for a company that only has one employee (me!)
I qualified for 55% of my paycheck with
SDI 4 weeks before due date and 6 weeks after baby is born.
then
6 weeks of PFL.

I only took the 6 weeks after baby and 6 weeks of PFL totaling in 12 weeks.

Also, does anyone know how long you have to be paying into SDI to qualify? I had my daughter last April and took the time off April – July and now our next baby will be here next June so I plan on taking the same time off (12 weeks.) I wonder if there is a certain amount of time you have to pay into SDI before you apply/qualify again.

Wow, 6 months is great!

I live in CA too, and I was so overwhelmed with all of these acronyms when I started my research! Yes, you don’t get paid until after the one week waiting period so you “miss” one week’s worth of disability. I got my payment debit card pretty quick (it’s issued by BofA, but you can go online and set it up to direct deposit into your personal bank account, regardless of where you bank).

I got the supplemental short term disability insurance, too. It’s available during open enrollment at my work and I paid about $6\paycheck to get paid 66.67% of my salary when I was on disability. Sucks that it didn’t continue when I was on PFL (since it’s not disability).

All payments thorough the gov’t come through your debit card and then I got a weekly check (to make up the difference between 55% and 66.67%) from Sun Life, my supplemental insurance people.

I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you posting this detailed information in super simple language. I have been reading all the state websites for the past few nights and (for a woman with a BA and MBA) have had the toughest time because they all say different things and don’t explain which types of leave are concurrent. THANK YOU!

@Lauren – I was soo confused too. They sure don’t make it easy for us to understand these laws! I really wanted to make it as simple as possible when I wrote this because everything out there was just too all over the place… and I have my MBA too. Goodness.

Thanks for posting such a useful article. I was just trying to wrap my head around the booklets that my HR gave me, and your article makes it so much approachable.

Couple of questions:
* You mentioned about Supplemental Insurance. Can that be taken after the open enrollment? Is it through your company or is it through a separate entity?
* was 80% before tax or after tax? If there is no supplemental Insurance, is 55-60% after tax or before tax?

Thanks So Much!!

ahhhhh thanks for this.. so much to research its overwhelming.. I appreciate the jumping off point!

Still confused about which maternity leave laws apply to you? Check out http://www.milkyourbenefits.com!

Thank you for your blog post! I have been researching this info and also found a great resource from Kaiser Permanente:

http://mydoctor.kaiserpermanente.org/ncal/Images/Maternity%20Leave%20And%20Benefits_tcm75-181076.pdf

Thank you so much for this! This is the first resource I’ve found which actually makes sense to me for all these different benefits. So helpful!!

Thank you so much for this! I just got back from maternity leave this week and I was kind of surprised because my work let me have PDL and after that was over FMLA kicked in. During those 12 weeks I used PFL but I was never told about CFRA. If I had known that I would have made arrangements to stay with my baby until she was six months. I feel like I would have felt better to begin work when Baby was able to eat solids as well as breastmilk. I would have also loved the extra time to bond with her.

Hi All! I really appreciate all of this information. I am curious to know if anyone has had this come up when dealing with HR. I was told that once I ran out of PTO (which is about 2 weeks worth, and they make you use it in combination with your SDI), the employee is made to be 100% responsible for their health insurance benefits while out on leave. Does this sound familiar to anyone? Thanks!

Do you mind identifying the specific supplemental maternity insurance plan you paid into?

Here is a little clarification about PFL I thought would be helpful since I know many people get confused about what PFL is…. CA PFL is actually not a leave… meaning it is not leave-time that is granted. It is only pay that is paid to you during your leave that CA state provides if you are eligible. So FMLA/CFRA would be the leave, and PFL would be the pay you get from state of CA while you are on that leave (likewise, SDI would be the pay you get during your Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL)).

This was super helpful! Thank you for detailing it out – just what I was looking for!

@Honey: I still paid into my company’s health insurance while out on leave and did not need to find one separately on my own. Maybe this is different depending on company?

@podomama: yes! I tried to make that part clear in my post by specifying which policies run concurrently and which are paid/nonpaid.

@Alex: glad it was helpful – hopefully you found what you were looking for!

Thanks for explaining all this. This makes so much more sense than what my HR explained to me. I’ve referred to your website several times. Thanks again!

This was SOOOOOO helpful! You really broke down what I had to do to file for maternity leave in CA. THANK YOU!

One question I had was, which supplemental insurance company did you use? I would like to look into this, but would like your opinion on this subject, as you have much more knowledge on it than I do.

Thanks!

Hi everyone,
I am new to this site and soooo confused about all the maternity leave. I am due December 9 and plan on working till about 2 weeks before I have my baby. I am really confused about how much time I can take off after I have the baby. I really want to take advantage to the MAX of time I can take off… Can anyone PLEASE guide me…. I would greatly greatly appreciate it. I am thinking it will be a normal vaginal delivery…. Thank you everyone. PS I do get paid 2 weeks vacation in January so not sure if I should have HR hold it so it doesn’t affect anything or what should I do??

@erica7783: Hi Erica – this thread might be helpful – http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/in-california-when-do-you-apply-for-sdi-and-fmla#post-758481

Basically, you start by registering at SDI online – http://www.edd.ca.gov/disability/SDI_Online.htm – then fill out the SDI paperwork.

You get 12 weeks under FMLA, then 12 weeks under CFRA, so you are eligible for 24 weeks of job-protected leave under California law. Some of those weeks are covered with pay, and some are not.

@Ani – My supplemental insurance was through the company I work for. It automatically deducts a portion of my paycheck. Are you self-employed?

@mrs. high heels – thank you for the response. I am ,though, a little confused about the 24 weeks. I know I get 4 weeks before birth and 6 weeks after birth through SDI and additional 6 weeks under PFL and those 2 forms will be sent to me. That totals 16 weeks, But I’m confused about the remaining 8 weeks? Is there anything I would need to fill out for the additional 8 weeks or how would I go about it? Sorry for all the questions its just so many laws its hard to keep up. thanks again

If I am paying into disability insurance I can get the balance of income from them as well as SDI?

@mamimogul: no, everyone in CA automatically pays into disability insurance. That is what funds SDI. But if you opted to pay additional into the supplemental disability, then you would likely get more than the standard 55-60% that the state gives (depending on your company policy).

My question is, how about if you have two full time job? Can u file on the other one and work on the other one?

Just a heads up ladies, and it may have already been mentioned but I didn’t see it: You can now defer FMLA until after CA PDL is exhausted, because CA PDL now protects your benefits in addition to the 55-60% pay coverage it offers. For me, the benefit to this is that my employer will only pay for one 12 week period of benefits under CFRA or FMLA. If FMLA was running concurrently with CA PDL, I would have to pay into my benefits during the 6 weeks that CFRA is running alone. (That would cost me $1300/ month and ultimately drive me back to work) Now that I can defer FMLA coverage and run it concurrently with CFRA I will get my benefits paid for during my 6 week CA PDL leave plus an additional 12 weeks for the FMLA/ CFRA period. 18 weeks of paid benefits as opposed to 12 weeks.

OMG! THANK YOU!! You have no idea how helpful this has been to me. This is my second child, and for some reason I couldn’t remember what I did with my first pregnancy years ago. The forms and navigation have been frustrating, to say the least. My company is based out of Chicago, so HR doesn’t always have the answers! This is so appreciated- Sounds to me like you may have found your nitch!! Best, Marianne

Why kind of supplement insurance did you purchase? I am 22 weeks pregnant, do you think I can still sign-up for a supplement insurance? what is the cap on SDI benefit?

@Marianne – Thanks for stopping by with the nice comment – good luck on everything!! Definitely wish they made things easier for us to navigate.

Wonderful article! I was actually referred here by one of my HR reps. Just wanted to re-clarify: FMLA and CFRA do not pay you. These are just your job protection. You get your pay, through the state, from SDI and then PFL.

@Salim: Yes, I mentioned that in points 3 and 4 above! I wanted to separate out the laws to clearly show that those two only offer job-protected leave without compensation, but that there are other ones that do provide you with a portion of your pay.

@H: The supplemental insurance is offered through my company and we’re only able to purchase it during open enrollment. You can also go through private supplemental insurance agencies but I don’t know much about them. I don’t believe you can purchase once you’re already pregnant though. Here’s more info about the wage cap – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Disability_Insurance

This is a GREAT post!! Wish I would have seen this 6 months ago!!

Do you know how it works in the state of ca if you have PFL remaining but have left your job? I had my little boy 5 months ago and have been back to work for two months but plan on leaving my career to be home with him on the first of the new year. I was planning on taking my last two weeks of PFL when his daycare was closed during the holidays this Dec/Jan. Just trying to figure out if I can take those two weeks after I leave my job…it would be nice to get that little bit of extra cash!!

Thanks!

@Mrs M: I *think* that you lose out on your PFL benefits once you leave your job. It’s really a benefit for those who have job but need to take time off work to care for a family member or bond with their baby. If you no longer have a job, I would think that that no longer applies to you. I would do your own research just to be sure, but based on some quick googling that’s what I gleaned.

Hi! I’ve been researching and it seems that CFRA is the California version of FMLA, therefore they run concurrently. I’m not sure how you’re arriving at the 24 week leave total.
Please help me understand!

http://workfamilyca.org/resources/pdf/ca_family_leave_guide.pdf

@Katy: The literature out there is kind of confusing, and it’s been awhile so I had to go revisit this topic… I googled some stuff that might be helpful for you.

1) http://www.laborlawtalk.com/showthread.php?t=89404
2) http://community.babycenter.com/post/a7976495/california_moms_-_fmla_vs._cfra_pdl (the very last comment on this thread is useful)
3) http://www.shrm.org/TemplatesTools/hrqa/Pages/Californiadifferencecfrafmla.aspx – this site was slightly confusing because they first say that FMLA and CFRA run concurrently, but in the next breath they say this:

“Pregnancy disability is not protected under CFRA, but it is protected under FMLA as a serious health condition. If an employee taking pregnancy disability leave under California law (see the next paragraph) is eligible for FMLA leave, the pregnancy disability leave period and FMLA run concurrently. At the conclusion of the pregnancy disability leave period, or at the end of four months of pregnancy disability leave, whichever occurs first, the employee may take a new-child bonding leave under CFRA for up to 12 workweeks (provided she did not use CFRA leave in the preceding 12-month period).” – In an nutshell, this is saying that once FMLA runs out, CFRA will kick in.

I feel you on the confusion, I really do! It’s hard to figure all this out – I don’t know why the gov’t can’t just sum everything up in simple terms… sigh. Do you have a company HR dept that you can talk to about this? Maybe they can help clear up some things!

@Katy: here’s another helpful article – http://siliconvalleymamas.com/2013/03/understanding-maternity-leave-in-california-2013-edition/

This one might answer your question. She talks about the 4 laws, then she says that CFRA does kick in right after FMLA but they can overlap somewhat (so you might not necessarily get 12 full weeks on FMLA, then 12 full weeks on CFRA). If you have no complications, then generally you’ll get 6-8 weeks under FMLA then CFRA will kick in immediately after. So you can get anywhere from 16-24 weeks of leave depending on your circumstances postpartum.

What if you work 2 jobs? I have a 2nd part-time job where I can freelance from home while with baby. I would love to continue this 2nd during unpaid FMLA and CFRA, but I’m not sure if that means I have to opt out of PDL/PFL pay? Has anybody else been in this situation?

FMLA and CFRA can run concurrently. This is an example of how a normal leave will work:

4 weeks before delivery, begin PDL
6 weeks after delivery and released from the doctor’s care, begin CFRA

FMLA can begin at the same time as PDL. Therefore, in this example, FMLA and PDL would begin at the same time and run for 10 weeks. After that, FMLA will continue for another 2 weeks and overlap with the first 2 weeks of CFRA. An additional 10 weeks of CFRA would follow. I hope that this makes sense.

PFL and SDI are methods of payment during leave and make this situation much more confusing. I won’t go into greater detail at this point, but suffice it to say that the FMLA clock can run with PDL, CFRA or both.

Hi Everyone,

We just applied for CA SDI pregnancy leave, as my wife is expecting in another 4 weeks. My question is this – when we get the EDD DEbit card, will the amount cover the 3 weeks (excluding 1 week waiting period) and 6 weeks after delivery? or will it make recurring deposits to the debit card abbount. I mean is it a one time thing or recurring deposits? Please advise.

Thanks,
Mike

@Mike: they are recurring deposits.

I have a question…my daughter is due in the beginning of March. She was put on light duty by her doctor (she works at a senior care home as a CNA). The employer has three employees on light duty for various reasons. My daughter is the only one of three pregnant, and the other two have been on light duty longer than her. The employer gave my daughter paperwork today to go on leave. Can they do that? Her Doctor’s nurse told her the doctor probably won’t sign off on it because my daughter can still work. Obviously, this would be unpaid leave right?? oh by the way, she is in California and has been working there for a year and a half. Thank you.

Do you happen to recall any information on protecting your health insurance benefits while on leave? I am only seeing health insurance protected for 4 months, even if you are entitled to take the full 6 months post baby. Any advice would be welcome!!! thanks!

@rosiedawn: My understanding is the same as yours, that your health insurance would only be protected during the months that you are eligible for “job-protected leave” (under the FMLA and CFRA laws).

@laura: I’m thinking the paperwork was just the standard paperwork she’d need to start the maternity leave process. I had to fill out paperwork from both my employer AND the state prior to going on leave. I submitted everything to my doctor in advance, and then was able to take leave one month before my due date (paid) even though I was still able to work. I heard that California is getting stricter nowadays about allowing people to take leave prior to their due date though.

I am an employment attorney. The bad news is your information is partially incorrect. The good news is that California allows up to 4 months for Pregnancy leave and another 12 weeks for CFRA leave to care for the baby – so just under 7 months!

@Dan Stevens- can you elaborate on how the total adds up
To 7 months?

I work full time for a company in MI but working for their client in CA and paid hourly. I have been with same company since last 7 years. I moved to CA from TN in August 2013 and my baby is due in Sept 2014.

“California State DI” taxes are deducted from my paycheck. Will I be eligible for “Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL)” and “Paid Family Leave Act (PFL)” as my employer is not in CA,

My empolyer states that after the 7 day qualification period (which they will kindly pay me regular pay) I will begin recieving disability payments that they will suppliment to bring me to 100%.

Below is the break down by weeks, but this only totals 13 weeks paid. Which benifit am I missing that gives me additional paid leave? Paid Disability Leave?

Week 1 Disability Qualification Period paid 100% Regular Wages
Week 2-6 Maternity Leave / Disability Leave paid 100% regular wages from two sources: (60% from disability benefits + 40% from my company)
Weeks 7-13 Bonding Leave 100% regular wages from two sources: (55% from CA PFL benefits + 45% from company)
Weeks 14+ Bonding Leave You may use Paid any Accrued PTO balance that you may have
Weeks 19+ Personal Leave Benefits will cease and you will be offered COBRA, unless there are extenuating circumstances.

I’m wondering if the disability pay during weeks 2-6 is the PDL that really should be extended to 12 weeks?

Any feed back on this policy would be great.

Were you able to take the 24 weeks? I’m reading elsewhere that CFRM and FMLA are concurrent or at least a one or the other. You cant piggy-back them for a combined total of 24 weeks protected time off.
http://www.shrm.org/TemplatesTools/hrqa/Pages/HCaliforniaCFRAchildbondingleave.aspx

So I had a baby on January 27th got payed 8 weeks since I had a C section. My last statement came in today but I didn’t get any forms to fill out for bonding time.. I just got an feasibility eligibility continuation form but there is nothing about bonding time.. When am I supposed to get it in the mail or am I supposed to request the form and apply myself?

I live in California. I am a public high school teacher. My HR rep has told me that we DO NOT pay into SDI, therefore I cannot receive any benefits other than what my district offers, which is 6-8 weeks total, and that’s if I have unused sick days.
I checked my pay stub and sure enough, under SDI, there’s a 0. Is this legal?

Okay I’ve been reading everyone’s comments and hope I have this figured out. Someone let me know please. Here goes. I was put on pregnancy leave on Jan 7, 2014 due to risk of a complicated pregnancy. I was due on Feb 3 but had baby on Feb 5. Did my check up on March 19 and was extended on medical leave due to having back and hip issues. Had complications right before and during delivery causing me issues afterwards with it getting worse while constantly taking care of newborn. This put me out until April 9 under medical leave and now I started to do bonding time for just the six weeks that I can get paid under PFL (or I might extend it if I can). this would put me to return to work on May 21 making the entire time I was out 13 weeks under disabled leave and at least 6 weeks bonding time which would all be okay under California state laws with job protection. I am pretty sure I am correct in this situation and here is why I ask questions. My work, even though I am submitting all documentation, says that I am only cleared for 12 weeks under FMLA and that I was supposed to return back to work on April 1. They said their company doesn’t offer bonding time only FMLA (they are an out of state corporation that has locations everywhere) and I told them I live in CA with different laws. End result: I may be getting fired while on bonding leave.

Where did u get your supplemental short term disability insurance?

what insurance group did you go with? what do you suggest?
aflac…??

@Tiesha – What your high school rep said is the same as mine.

A couple of clarifications:
1. Once your sick leave ran out, did you start differential pay? (getting your regular salary minus what they are paying your sub)
2. Did you plan to stay out for the 12 weeks (holds your job/benefits, not salary) of FMLA?

Let me know if you found out anything else!

This page has been super helpful! One question, PDL is UP TO 4 months of leave, but if you’re having a “normal”, non-complicated pregnancy, how often do people actually get signed off for all 4 months as “disabled” or do most doctor sign you off after 6 weeks postpartum and then that’s when CFRA kicks in?

@crispy
I am currently on pregnancy disability leave because I am on strict bed rest. I started since 23 weeks and will continue till baby is 6 weeks. I will go on paid family leave after that. So it all depends on your doctor when he considers you to be disabled to work. All you have to so is submit the claim online and give your doctor’s office the reference number. I started getting my benefits within 10 days I submitted the claim.
I hope this helps.

Sorry if someone has asked this but I live in CA and am wondering how long I have to be at my job before I can claim the state benefits (paid). I know FMLA and CFRA only apply when you’ve been there for 1 year but what about PFL and PDL?
For example, if I have only been with my employer (>50 people) for a few months (or anything less than one year) before I deliver, my job won’t be protected (right??) but will I qualify for the 55-60% of my salary? Thanks!

Thank you for taking the time to explain all of this. This information has been extremely helpful for me, as I am planning on going on Maternity leave in California.
Thank You

I must have done something wrong. I got 8 weeks of maternity leave. I collected California temporary disability which only added up to about 20% of my salary, even though my SDI account says I’m eligible for more. I’m a single parent so during my maternity leave I burnt through my savings (since I still had bills but only 20% of my income) and felt rushed to get back to work asap. I was given the option by my company to take up to six extra weeks unpaid but I couldn’t afford that, even though I would have given anything for that extra time with my little one (and to try to get some sleep!).

I have a question. I am not eligible for CFRA or FMLA because I have only worked for my company for 10 months. Can I use 6 weeks of PDL then use PFL for the following 6 weeks to equal a total of 12 weeks?

@MRShighheels So this is my plan…
I wanted to ask if my doctor gives a note once I am at 37 weeks to go ahead and rest at home. I should be okay to apply for SDI until baby has been delivered?
After I deliver I should be eligible for FMLA for 6 weeks paid and then Paid Family Leave for 6 more weeks.
I just wanted to make sure if I stay home beginning at 37 weeks It won’t take away from the 6 weeks of FMLA.
I understand there is a 7 day waiting period. and I also have the company’s supplemental STD plan.

In Russia we get full 3 years. You laddies are so strong to deal with only 6 month off. I would cry if I had to give my baby away that early.

I Have currently been with my employer for 4 months. I am due 3/17/16 when I go out I will have been with them for 9 months. After the 12 was of STD and state disability run out will it then make me eligible for FMLA?

@Jessica: Unfortunately, it wouldn’t… The policy for FMLA according to the U.S. Dept of Labor is – “Employees are eligible to take FMLA leave if they have worked for their employer for at least 12 months, and have worked for at least 1,250 hours over the previous 12 months, and work at a location where at least 50 employees are employed by the employer within 75 miles.”

http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/1421.htm

FMLA only applies to companies with 50 or more employees, and you need to have been employed by them for at least 12 months to qualify. FMLA only guarantees job security for 12 weeks, it doesn’t offer payment or anything like that. There is a good chance (hopefully!) your employer will keep your job for you anyway while you are out on maternity leave.

Hi, I’m currently on my 6th week of pregnancy disability leave. I gave birth on 9/29/15 & developed eclampsia right after I gave birth and currently still being treated for it because it has not gone away. My doc said I’ll probably have to be off longer than 6 weeks after after birth because of the complications. I’m Wondering if I should still applu for paid family leave now (since I can use this later) or will I qualify for extended maternity leave?

I appreciate any input.

Thanks!

Hi ladies, does any of you know how to apply for FMLA/CFRA? I live in San Francisco, CA, and I’ve just applied for PFL benefits, but I’m not sure how to follow up with the next steps to apply for CFRA? All I know is that I qualify for all these benefits, and I don’t want to miss any of them.
I’d appreciate any feedback.

Thank you,

Jacqui

Your blog post helped me so much for 2 of my pregnancies (second time around I forgot and had to look up your blog again).

I wanted to share what I feel is an injustice in an otherwise good leave plan. In CA, if you work in the same company as your spouse, you have to share the FMLA and CFRA, so essentially the dad has no paternity leave. Even if you work in a giant company in separate departments. I feel this is incredibly unfair in this case.

@Mrs High Heels : This post has been “incredibly” helpful. I was very much overwhelmed going over through various jargons of PDL, FMLA, PFL, CFRA and which is applicable when.

I would recommend this article to anyone looking into this.

As it’s said, a picture is worth thousand words, I also created a diagram for a 24 week timeline for my convenience. I uploaded this on Pinterest here :https://www.pinterest.com/pin/510806782715473117/. Please feel free to use/share this on your article if it’s worth for other readers too.

I am starting a new job for a California company and am already 10 weeks pregnant. What are my rights? I won’t qualify for FMLA because I won’t be there 12 months prior to labor. Any thoughts?

Hi, I live in Oakland,CA and I would like to sign up to buy into supplemental disability insurance on top of STD, but I can’t find information anywhere mentioning it. Can you pint me in the direction of where I could do that?

Thanks so much!
Nifer

Hi there!

If I start my disability at 35 weeks, the first 7 days being the waiting period, will i get paid through pdl from 36 weeks till I deliver? Or can I only start at 36 weeks? My doctor’s office said I could start at 35 weeks but I don’t see that anywhere online. they all say 36 weeks.

Thanks you so much for all your help and for putting such an useful blog!