Recently, I announced that I was taking over 2 months off for baby bonding leave and I was met with a lot of questions and curiosity. It turns out a lot of women don’t really understand maternity leave and bonding leave, including my coworkers who had already done it twice before and had to do it a third time. I personally also had a lot of trouble finding good information on it when I was trying to plan my pregnancy and leave. (And I could go on a whole rant about how we totally don’t support moms enough and give enough maternity leave in the U.S., but that would be too long for this post.)

So, I decided I would write up something about it to help other Californian mamas out. It’s confusing enough that there are different laws in each state, so keep in mind that this post is limited to just in California. There are also some exciting new changes for 2020 and onward, thanks to Governor Newsom, so stay tuned and read on!

Before we start, DISCLAIMER: I am not a lawyer, and I am not an expert on this. I am merely writing down my understanding of it because I had to deal with calling state disability and my work HR so much and often got the runaround. But they are dealing with a persistent and stubborn Scorpio, so I keep calling til I get my answers! Hopefully, this might answer some of the questions you have about your leave and simplify things, but please do not take this information as 100% accurate or legal advice.

Here are some Quick Links if you want to skip ahead and please help me Pin this article for later if you think it’s helpful!

• • The Quick and Dirty
  • The Nitty Gritty
    • How much time can I take off? (And still keep my job..)
      • Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL)
      • Your Baby is Born! Now What?
      • California Family Rights Act (CFRA)
    • How much can I get paid while on leave?
      • State Disability Insurance (SDI) for PDL
      • Paid Family Leave (PFL) for CFRA (bonding leave)
      • What about the rest of my wages?
    • What about a complicated pregnancy?
    • What if I didn’t realize I qualified for more disability and already took PFL?
    • So you’re saying I could potentially get 7 months of leave overall?

The Quick and Dirty

Honestly, when I was researching, the best resource I found that clearly described to me the different leaves and rules was this blog post by Akiko. Bless you so much, mama. She also does individualized consultations to help you maximize your leave since every person’s situation is different. Just giving her some love by sharing her services and because I think it’s so cool to have a resource and her blog helped me!

I learn well with graphics so this one on her blog, courtesy of California Work and Family Coalition, was one of the best ways to sum up an uncomplicated maternity leave.

The graphic says a lot, and basically tells you that you can get up to 22 weeks off for an uncomplicated pregnancy with vaginal delivery. I’ll further break down the nitty gritty for uncomplicated births and how the State of California can pay you if you’re a contributing taxpayer that works for a qualifying employer. I’ll also go into the leave for “complicated” births at the end, as I had to deal with it for my postpartum depression (PPD).

Another really great site to visit for tons more details is this one if you want even more information. It’s really long, but thorough and written by actual lawyers!

Back to the top.

The Nitty Gritty

In this more detailed section, I’m going to break it down into two larger sections that the infographic above breaks up nicely.

1. First, you need to know how much time off you are ALLOWED while your job is still protected. For the purposes of California, this is delineated by the laws of Pregnancy Disability Leave Law (PDL) and California Family Rights Act (CFRA).
2. Second, you should understand if and how much the state will PAY you and from what funds (or wage replacement). This is broken up into State Disability Insurance (SDI) and Paid Family Leave (PFL).

Keep in mind that these are the criteria for a protected leave but some employers will be more generous as long as they have met these minimum criteria. This kind of goes without saying, but always check with your company HR for company specific benefits.

So let’s jump into it!

How much time can I take off ? (And still keep my job..)

Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) — Starting Maternity Leave

• You can get up to 4 months unpaid and protected leave with health benefits.
  • The 4 months mentioned here are important, but you don’t get all of them by default. I’ll bring them up when I discuss a complicated leave.
  • It is possible that they can be paid for all 4 months too, like I got!
• You may have heard the acronym FMLA. Don’t worry about it.
  • PDL runs concurrently with FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993) which is a federal law. However, for Californians PDL trumps FMLA, so you only need to worry about PDL in California!
  • PDL is better than FMLA anyway, because the only requirement to qualify for PDL is that your employer must employ 5 or more employees and you have a disability related to pregnancy and/or childbirth. (The FMLA requirements are more stringent.)
• Uncomplicated births and a typical maternity leave will allow you to start PDL up to 4 weeks prior to your estimated delivery date. 
  • The first 4 weeks before delivery are “use it or lose it.” You cannot work closer to your due date and save the time to be used after delivery. SO USE IT, especially if your employer will pay you (whatever state disability doesn’t pay you) to match your full time pay! See SDI section for information on pay.
    • If your baby comes early, you do not get to use any remaining weeks to add on to your leave.
    • If your baby comes late, you would get more than 4 weeks prior to your due date!

Your baby is born! Now what?

• You are still under PDL. For an uncomplicated birth, you get 6 weeks of maternity disability for a vaginal delivery and 8 weeks of maternity disability for a C-section delivery.
  • Note: Before you go thinking that maybe C-section is the way to go to get more time off, it is a much more difficult recovery. Medical professionals will not recommend a C-section unless it is absolutely necessary as there are many benefits to having a vaginal delivery. Gone are the days people elect for C-sections. And honestly, 2 more extra weeks off for C-section recovery is probably a joke to most women who have done it.
  • If you aren’t completely confused right now and have time to stop and think, “Wait, so they think my maternity disability time should be only 6 weeks and I should technically be able to go back to work after these first few weeks?” you are correct in being flabbergasted and appalled. But that’s a different soap box for another day. I know at 6 weeks postpartum, I was anxious, teary, sleep-deprived but suffering insomnia, and utterly listless. It clearly was not enough for me!

California Family Rights Act (CFRA) aka “Bonding Leave”

• Since 6 weeks of maternity disability seems way too short*, most women will continue straight into their “bonding leave” right after the PDL disability portion is up. CFRA protects your job during this bonding leave time.

*Mommy Pearl: The caveat here is if your doctor thinks you are recovered enough to return to work and to take you off disability at 6 weeks. But doctors will not just offer to extend your leave for you. For me, I didn’t even realize I could extend my disability. Remember PDL covers up to 4 months off?? This is NOT including bonding time. With bonding time included, you could potentially get up to 7 months off! If this isn’t sinking in or raising exclamation points, read this part again because it’s important to know about. This is a fact that I think most new moms gloss over because they just don’t know. I’m not advising you to make up an ailment to extend disability, but if you legitimately need more time off due to physical or mental disabilities, Advocate. For. Yourself. 

• Under CFRA, if you are eligible**, you are allowed 12 weeks off to “bond” with your baby. You may take these 12 weeks any time before your baby’s first birthday.
  • These 12 weeks are also available for dads to use for paternity leave, so there are 24 weeks total between two parents.
  • Employers can require you to take your bonding leave in 2 week minimum increments. (But that doesn’t mean they always do. My husband’s leave was not like that.)
    • However, the law allows you to take 2 intermittent leaves that are less than 2 weeks at a time during that year.
• This bonding leave is applicable to adopted and foster kids too.
• **To be eligible for these 12 weeks of bonding:
  • Your employer must employ at least 20 employees within a radius of 75 miles of your worksite.
  • You have to work at least 12 months prior to taking your leave.
  • In those past 12 months, you must have worked at least 1250 hours for your employer.

Back to the top.

How much can I get paid while on leave?

State Disability Insurance (SDI) for PDL

• If you pay into California SDI (CASDI on your pay stub)*, you can get paid up to 60% or 70% of your wages during the time you are on pregnancy disability leave (PDL).
  • You can get 70% if you earn less than one-third of the state’s average quarterly wage during the base period (prior four quarters)
    OR
  • You can get 60% if you earn one-third or more of the state’s average quarterly wage during the base period (prior four quarters)
• *Eligibility: If your paystub shows that your employer withheld at least $300 for the SDI fund during your “base eligibility period,” then you may be eligible for paid leave from state funds. The employee’s base eligibility period is the 12-month period ending the quarter before the claim starts.
  • Honestly, I read all that above and I get confused. For me, I max out, so this 60% and 70% stuff doesn’t apply to me. If you want more information on calculating how much you would get, check out Akiko’s fantastic post about it over here.
• SDI weekly maximum for 2020: $1300
  • This number changes annually but I’ve only ever seen it go up.
• There is 7-day waiting period from the date you start your claim in which the state will not pay you for.
  • Your employer may let you use your vacation hours during these 7 days.
    OR
  • Your employer might also let you take it unpaid, which is what I did because PTO is precious and hard to come by!
• On Day 1 of your maternity leave, submit your claim to CA State Disability on the Employment Development Department (EDD) website: https://edd.ca.gov/
  • You may sign up for an account ahead of time and start a claim, save a draft. However, you may not file the claim until you are actually starting the leave.
  • You will need a doctor’s note placing you on disability with the dates indicated. How your doctor’s office submits this to EDD will vary from individual to individual.
  • The dates of your leave could potentially be longer or shorter than estimated, but for an uncomplicated pregnancy, it usually starts 4 weeks prior to the due date and ends 6 weeks after the due date.
  • Just remember that you could potentially get up to 4 months of PDL paid for by SDI. In nitty gritty details, this is 124 days (does not overlap with other medical disability claims.)
    • When your disability is almost up, EDD will mail you a claim form and ask if your disability is over. If not, you can addend with a new doctor’s note. If it is over, you have the option to continue straight into bonding leave.
• You will be paid by the EDD via a Bank of America Debit Card. Automatic transfers to your bank account from the debit card are available to be set up. There is also an option to get a check mailed to you.

Back to the top.

Paid Family Leave (PFL) for CFRA (bonding leave)

If you do go straight into bonding leave after your maternity disability is over, it is a pretty easy transition to just update and fill it out on the EDD website. The website is pretty easy to use, and the state is pretty reliable in completing your claims within 14 days. But I often wish there were more confirmation that things were submitted correctly. It is near impossible to talk to someone when you call the automated phone line. Most of it is all long recordings that dead end at some point, making it super frustrating, especially for sleep-deprived moms who just need to figure out this ish!

That being said, I know we are fortunate in California to have some paid family leave time for bonding. In the US, there are 7 States and District of Columbia that offer paid family leave (California, Washington, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New Jersey), with variations in how many weeks are paid. Of course, yours truly (California) started the trend in 2002.

• PFL pays for bonding leave covered by CFRA at the same rate as you get paid SDI for PDL. PFL is not used to protect your job (that’s CFRA), but states that you can get paid during a leave to take care of seriously ill family members and/or bond with a birthed, adopted, or fostered child during their first year with you.
  • The maximum you can get paid for PFL is also $1300/week for 2020.
• However, even though CFRA allows you 12 weeks of time to bond, PFL only pays partial pay for 6 weeks out of the 12 weeks allowed.
• Similar to PDL, you apply on the EDD website and submit your claim no earlier than the first day of your leave.
  • Or, if you are continuing from a maternity leave, a simple form online will suffice.
• PFL is taxable, federally, and you will get a 1099-G in January of the following year. SDI  for PDL is not taxed.
• For more information on this, check out the EDD’s FAQ page.

Mommy Pearl: New for 2020! Starting July 1, 2020, paid family leave will pay 8 weeks out of 12 thanks to Governor Newsom signing SB 83 in June 2019. There are talks about increasing to 12 or 16 weeks of paid family leave in the future, but no concrete details on that yet. Though it is still not the most ideal, this is still exciting news and progress moving forward!

Back to the top.

What about the rest of my wages?

• Your employer is not required to cover the rest of your wages that the state does not cover. However, some do cover it, especially if they also cover regular medical disability leaves.
  • If your employer covers the rest of your wages, they may require you to use accrued sick time for disability leave and PTO for bonding leave.
• Since PFL only pays for the first 6 weeks of bonding but you are allowed 12, the last 6 weeks might be all PTO depending on your company. It will be nice when PFL covers more weeks so you won’t have to use as much PTO!
• As an example, my company allows me to take the first 7 days unpaid or use PTO before disability kicks in. Then during the disability portion of the claim, they used my sick hours to bridge whatever the state did not pay me to meet the full pay I would have gotten. Once I was on bonding, the first 6 weeks were supplemented with PTO for full pay. The last 6 weeks are fully PTO.

What about a complicated pregnancy? (Before or after delivery)

So all of the above was about a regular, uncomplicated vaginal birth. But we all know that things don’t always go according to plan. Some mamas have to start the pregnancy leave earlier due to being placed on bedrest or pre-eclampsia to name a few reasons. Some mamas have post-pregnancy complications such as postpartum hemorrhaging.

And get this. Postpartum depression is a post-pregnancy complication.

I mean, I probably should have known if I had read the fine print about PDL but I didn’t even really understand the difference between that and PFL and FMLA and CFRA because I didn’t pay close enough attention. Another mama friend of mine who works in the same region/company as me told me that I should look into it, and that’s when all of these nitty gritty details started to catch up with me.

• If you need to be on pregnancy disability before the 4 weeks prior to your estimated due date, you can start the PDL claim then. Your doctor will need to write a disability note with the start date.
  • However, just keep in mind that you have a total of 124 days for your whole pregnancy leave regardless when you start it.
• If you need to further extend your pregnancy disability after the 6 weeks post actual due date, you may take up to 124 days total, starting from the very first day of your pregnancy leave claim.
  • Your doctor will have to write a new disability note extending your leave and putting a new return to work date.
  • For PPD, I had my psychiatrist help me send a disability note, since it seemed most appropriate for her to evaluate my PPD. She also wrote a note for my husband to take time off work as a caregiver for me (another way to use PFL). At that time, I was still not very stable and trying to figure out my insomnia and anxiety so I was trying different sleeping medications. My husband usually would drive me to appointments and made sure I followed up with my psychiatrist and therapist.
    • Once the disability note was submitted to EDD, they continued to pay me for my disability. Remember, PFL technically cannot start until your disability is over.
• Some women take leave intermittently during pregnancy for severe nausea/emesis and can also use the 124 days of PDL for this. I am not familiar on the details for how to do this or file the claim for this, but I wanted to point out that it could be something worth looking into if you might fall in this category!

Back to the top.

What if I didn’t realize I qualified for more disability and already took PFL?

I mention this section because this is exactly what happened to me. It’s a rare and weird situation, but I had so much trouble getting through it that I wanted to put it down here in case someone else might need more information and was somehow in the same boat. You probably don’t need to read this section unless this is your case! (Skip to the end)

I think if you can figure it out before your disability should end, there are ways to go back and addend the original disability claim. When your 6 weeks postpartum are up, the EDD usually sends you a letter asking if you are done with disability and you have about 20+ days to submit the form extending your disability if your doctor has written you something for it.

I was sooo not in the mood to deal with disability and PFL. I barely had the energy at 6 weeks postpartum to go online and mark that I was going to start “bonding” aka PFL now and continue from disability into bonding. It was on the last week of PFL (12 weeks postpartum) that I realized I could and should try to extend the disability for PPD because I wasn’t truly better or even “bonding” with my child while I was living in my darkest thoughts.

I was already past that 20-something-day window of submitting a form extending my disability, but I knew I had to ask and try anyway. I called the PFL and SDI departments multiple times (the biggest pain in the world, as I have complained about already before) and I got multiple different answers about what to do. I called my work HR and my work medical secretaries’ offices and also got a bunch of conflicting answers. But in the end, I figured out how to make the most of my leave.

I called my psychiatrist’s office to ask about extending my disability. She happily did it and the medical secretaries submitted the updated extension to EDD, but it wasn’t my psychiatrist’s job to tell me the rules or all of these disability details. So you just have to know how to advocate for yourself. I ended up claiming all those 124 days for PDL and then breaking up my bonding leave to take 2.5 months off right before my daughter turns one year old.

As far as the pay went, this was a little more complicated.

At work, HR had to go back and recode my time off as disability so I would use my sick leave hours instead of my PTO. Now that I am on bonding leave, I dip into my PTO hours. For EDD, once the medical secretary submitted my psychiatrist’s new note, they continued to pay me SDI. However, since PFL had already paid me for 6 weeks that SDI technically should have paid me, I was charged an “overpayment.” Technically, I was told that SDI should have paid back PFL so I could take my bonding leave at a different time but that was between them.

So, I thought I wouldn’t have to do anything, but of course, I was wrong. This overpayment issue actually never came up until I called them and brought it up when I was about to start my actual bonding time (paid family leave). I was curious if SDI ever ended up paying back PFL. They didn’t.

So when I called, PFL issued me an overpayment. Then they said they would do what is called an “in-time offset” which meant they would not pay me during my actual bonding claim since they technically already issued me payments. However, SDI was supposed to pay me for the overlap… I felt so annoyed because it felt like we were all just paying each other back and forth the same sum of money that was technically mine!

As if this weren’t complicated enough already, I felt like each department didn’t know who was responsible for paying me at what time. When they send you an overpayment, you also have 30 days to appeal so they have to wait those 30 days first before doing anything. However, I will have to give them credit for trying to make things right, but I wish the SDI and PFL and Overpayments department would communicate more with each other instead of me calling back and forth and being on hold for hours! It was like talking to different Departments of Magic at the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter and no one knew what the other was doing!

BOTTOM LINE: (and this is important!!) if PFL has already paid you all of your 6 weeks, it’s best not to let SDI pay them back. It is best to ask for the in-time offset from PFL. Otherwise, if SDI pays back PFL and then PFL pays you again, they have to issue you TWO 1099 tax forms, even though you only got ONE sum of that money! It’s just the way the department works, unfortunately. I almost ended up getting taxed twice!! [insert very angry face]

Luckily, with the hundreds of phone calls I made to all the departments, I was able to figure out from some more seasoned EDD workers what I actually should do. Whew, that hurt my brain to type all this out. But I figured if I don’t write this down now, someone down the line will ask me and this mommy brain will NOT remember any of this confusing stuff, so here you go!

Back to the top.

So you’re saying I could potentially get 7 months of leave overall?

YES. This includes the 4 weeks prior to your leave. If you are still disabled after 6 weeks of PDL, you can ask your doctor to extend your return to work date up to 124 days total from the very start of your maternity leave claim. Then you can take 12 weeks of bonding leave either right after you finish disability or break it up before your child turns one.

Hopefully all these detailed descriptions help you understand how much time off you can get while still having your job protected, as well as how much the state could pay you for your leave. Again, not an expert. Just a mama who had to make way too many phone calls and trying to save another mama or mama-to-be some time!

If you found this post helpful, please feel free to share or pin this article on Pinterest so others can find it too! 🙂 Thanks and good luck!

xoxo,
Jas

*Maternity photos by Marella Photography in Oahu