California Maternity Leave confusion - 1st Pregnancy | Forums | What to Expect (2024)

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K

Kldd

Has anyone else been looking into this? This is my first time qualifying for leave as this is my first pregnancy.

If I am looking at it right we get Pregnancy Disability Leave Law for up to 12 weeks DEPENDING on if you get a C Section or not. Other than that its 10 weeks leave @ 60 - 70% of your pay. That is 4 weeks before your due date (meaning leave at 36 weeks) and then 6-8 weeks after delivery.

You can get Paid Family Leave after delivery for 8 more weeks after yourPregnancy Disability Leave Law is up at the 10 weeks? Still 60-70% of your pay.

And then California has California Family Rights Act (bonding time) an additional 12 weeks with continued health insurance. Also paid. Unsure if this is 60-70% of your pay or of its full pay?

Am I looking at this right? I did call because I have to get my forms mailed to me due to living in NV but working in California. Also, I am confused.. is State Disability Insurance the same as Pregnancy Disability Leave Law? I believe the form I'm getting mailed to me is State Disability Insurance.

I am super thankful for California's Maternity leave rights, but its also so confusing. I even have a chart I'm looking at and its still confusing.

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m

melisbea89

I’m in the same boat

All these laws just confuse me even more

What I got from it was

State disability - week 36 until you give birth and that’s paid in full

Then you have maternity leave where it’s the date you delivered and that depends how you gave birth natural or c section

And then you have baby bonding time

That’s how I narrowed it down

Hope it helps

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Kldd

@melisbea89,

I agree! It is so confusing.

So we get paid in full at 36 weeks for that month until we give birth?

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melisbea89

@Kldd,

yes correct ����

Then after that idk if it’s a percentage or you still get paid full and only the baby bonding time is a percentage

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Katmariee07

@Kldd,

you get paid disability starting at 36 weeks which is 60-70% of your pay before taxes. but there is a 8 day waiting period so you wont get paid for the first week

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If you choose to go off work early or are medically removed from work, you qualify for state disability insurance at 60-70% of your income for 4 weeks prior to expected due date as well as 6-8 weeks after birth (6 for vaginal delivery, 8 for cesarean). Taking the 4 weeks before you give birth will NOT have any affect on any of your leave after the baby is here, so take that 4 weeks if you job and financial situation allows! You can qualify for an additional 8 weeks of wage replacement through Paid Family Leave (again at that 60-70% range). Those two are the only WAGE REPLACEMENTS California offers to new parents. So that’s how you’ll get paid! As far as job protection, your job is protected for even longer through FMLA and other programs but none of those are paying you. Hope that helps!

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Kldd

@LaneyLightnin,

Thank you! :)

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FTMommaC

I’m in HR Director in CA. I would look at the time off and pay as separate topics.

For time off: CA Pregnancy Disability Leave allows for job protected time off for up to 16 weeks. The time can be run concurrently with the 12 weeks of FMLA entitlement. This protects your job for the time off once your doctor says you need to stop working, usually 4weeks prior to delivery. Most women recover from vaginal delivery after 6 weeks or c-section after 8. Sometimes that can be extended if your having issues with your sciatica (*wink wink*) or another medically related reason why you can’t work. Once you’re “recovered”, then you can start baby bonding time under the CFRA which has to run consecutive to PDL. You get 12 weeks of job protected time under the CFRA.

For the pay: while you’re unable to work due to pregnancy disability and recovery, you file for CA SDI through EDD. They generally pay about 60-70% of your gross wages and have a 7 day waiting period for benefits. You can also use vacation, sick or PTO hours to coordinate with your SDI payments to get you closer to 100% income replacement if your employer allows it. Once you’ve recovered from the disability portion of your leave, you can file for CA PFL through EDD for the baby bonding portion. They pay about the same amount as SDI but only pay up 6 weeks. Most people go back to work after the paid PFL ends and you can use the remaining 6 weeks of your baby bonding time up to the baby’s 1st birthday.

Long answer but I hope this helps. ☺️

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California Maternity Leave confusion - 1st Pregnancy | Forums | What to Expect (51)

FTMommaC

@tamigreen,

Congrats! That’s so exciting. Generally you can take 8 weeks after a c sections and possibly more if there’s a medical reason to extend the leave. The pay during that time comes from State Disability Insurance through EDD. After the delivery recovery ends, then she can apply for paid family leave through EDD and that pays up 8 weeks.

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Katmariee07

follow theparkconsulting on Instagram, she has so much good info on all of this!

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Kldd

@Katmariee07,

Thank you!!

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