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. :D

@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)).