Frequently Asked Questions About Maternity Leave in California
Mom-to-Mom Advice About California State Disability and Paid Family Leave
Frequently Asked Questions about Maternity Leave in CaliforniaAs I was getting ready to return to work from maternity leave after having my first child, I thought about how difficult the process of figuring out the money parts of maternity leave had been for me, and I decided to write a simple article to help other women like me figure everything out.
The article was far more popular than I imagined, and over the past two years I have received several questions about the topic. Because the state does not make these things as simple as they should, I have decided to address these questions here, from one friendly California mom to another.
Question: My company has a benefit that pays me for two months right after the baby is born. Do I still get the pay from the state for disability and child bonding or is it either or?
Answer: You need to check with your company to be sure, but most employers require you to file for the state disability and paid family leave, and then your employer's disability insurance will pay the difference. Because SDI and PFL only cover about 55% of your income, your employer's disability insurance will make it so that you have no loss of income while you are on leave.
Question: Do you have to have sick time on the books at your job in order to get the paid family leave?
Answer: These funds do not come from your employer; they come from the state of California Employment Development Department, so you do not have to have sick time on the books.
Now, if your state is offering you supplemental disability insurance that will provide you full-time pay while you are off, they may require you to take any accrued sick time you have before getting their supplemental disability pay.
If you do have sick time available, you might want to see if your company will allow you to use it for the unpaid waiting period of maternity leave.
Question: Does the 4 weeks before birth take away time from afterbirth leave?
Comments
denise
(Guest)
(Guest)
05/09/2009
What happens in California if you decide NOT to return to work after maternity leave?? Do you have to pay the benefit back or pay the medical premiums back that your employer provided?
Priya
(Guest)
(Guest)
05/01/2009
I get a chance to take carrier opt that is too good to pass on, but risky and involves relocation to CT. My wife checks with her employer and finds an open position close by in CT which requires little travel. We decide to go with it.
While this was in works and not yet final, we found out that we were pregnant. We are now risking a stable salary since she can't meet the travel requirement.
Since my position allows me to travel for sometime, we now want to do the following:
My wife will work till 30wks, then use vacation till she qualifies for state maternity then use the state maternity for 12 wks after the baby is born. She will travel to CT and deliver there. Three months after we will decide on one of the two.
1. If my job doesn't work out and we don't like it in CT, we will come back.
2. We end-up staying and my wife does not return to work.
If we choose either of the above options, is there any issue with state benefits that we claimed? Do we still qualify
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