California Maternity Leave Experts?

GlitterMuffin914

Does anyone work in HR or have a good understanding of maternity leave/rights in California?

I work for a very small company (about 20 people) that is very new (a little over a year old). We don't have an HR person or department, and our policy thus far has been to just figure things out as a group when things come up (ah the joys of start-up life!). Well, I'm the only person on staff who is married, so needless to say, we all have zero experience with family needs and leave! 

I know that in California I can apply for SDI, but am unsure of how much time this actually allows me, and how to figure out when to start my leave. I know I won't qualify for FMLA since the company is too small. I've been told something about California Family Rights Act and California Paid Family Leave, but I don't understand exactly if I qualify for any of that and how that works with SDI. 

Also, I don't think I should be concerned about my position not being safe while I'm gone, but I am a little nervous because I know that FMLA offers a certain amount of protection, which I wouldn't have. Aside from trusting the company, how do I guarantee that my position won't be given to someone else while I'm on leave?

Thanks for the insight!

portentosa

CA Short Term Disability
You can apply for CA short term disability when your doctor says you can no longer work. If everything is going well in your pregnancy the soonest this can happen is 4 weeks prior to your due date. You then stay on short term disability until your doctor clears you to work again. If everything goes well that'd be 6 weeks for a vaginal delivery or 8 weeks for a c-section. There is a one week waiting period for benefits to be paid, you can use vacation or sick time to pay for the one week you are waiting, but you can not be working during that week. Benefits are something like 60% of your income determined from your earnings over the past year I believe. They will send you a debit card as a form of payment and will reload it as long as you receive benefits.

Paid Family Leave
This is a program designed to help parents bond with their newborns or newly adopted children. Both the mom and the dad are eligible to take up to 6 weeks paid time (60% paid onto the EDD debit card) anytime within the first year. For me, they sent me the application a couple weeks before my disability was due to be up and I used all my six weeks without any hiccups in payments. For my H he split it up. He used 2 weeks when DS was born, 2 weeks over Thanksgiving, and 2 weeks over Christmas. You can use these weeks however you like, but you MUST use them within the first year the baby is born.

FMLA
12 weeks unpaid time off that protects your job while you are gone. You do not qualify as you said, but I'm putting it here for others who may want to know. FMLA goes into effect when you first go out on leave (if you work for a company with 50 or more employees). It is not paid, but will protect your job while you are gone. You use it in conjunction with the paid benefits listed above.

CA Family Rights Act
Again OP, you do not qualify for this one because the employer must have 50 or more employees. 12 weeks unpaid family bonding time that goes into effect after you've exhausted FMLA/Short Term Disability.



So in CA you can typically get...

16-18 weeks paid time off (12-14 weeks of that after the birth of your child).
* 4 weeks prior to birth paid through disability.
* 6-8 weeks after birth paid through disability.
* 6 weeks within child's first year paid through PFL.

If your employer employs 50 or more people you can get 24 weeks of unpaid job protection that runs concurrently with your paid time off.
* 12 weeks through FMLA. 
* 12 weeks through CFRA.

https://www.edd.ca.gov/disability
https://www.edd.ca.gov/disability/paid_family_leave.htm
https://www.dfeh.ca.gov/Publications_CFRADefined.htm

The state programs can be applied for online at the EDD website linked above. There's instructions regarding when to apply and how on the website. Also ask you OB about this. When I had DS the online app was new and it was a headache trying to get my OB to fill out the one little form I needed to complete my online application. It's been nearly two years since then, but it can't hurt to ask your OB's office how they file disability claims.

portentosa

Unfortunately, there is no way to legally guarantee your job will be protected in your circumstances OP. Open communication with your employer, clear expectations set before you go on leave, and prompt communication if anything changes after baby arrives seem like they would be helpful to keeping you and your employer feeling comfortable. Good luck!

pshaortao

@tromboner Thank you for sharing, I live in CA and that was more information that I knew already! 

Jayhawkali

What previous poster said. I ended up going out about 34 weeks last time (doctors orders) and disability paid until birth then 8 weeks for csection. Also the paid family leave/ baby bonding can be taken all at once or part time. I returned part time when baby was about 10 weeks works similarly to unemployment with you filling out how many hours you worked etc.
Also your husband can also take paid family leave if he pays into std/ unemployment. My husband took 1 week off then went back part time for a few weeks. Can be used anytime first year I believe

stephanie123456

Wait... So if I was only going to use two weeks of the bonding PDL pay then return to work, could I return part-time for four weeks and still get the 60% from EDD and then my 40% from my employer?

Edit: I meant PFL pay, the six weeks after disability.

Jayhawkali

stephanie123456 said:

Wait... So if I was only going to use two weeks of the bonding PDL pay then return to work, could I return part-time for four weeks and still get the 60% from EDD and then my 40% from my employer?

So I believe it worked like this say your weekly benefit amount from old is $400 they give you a slip like unemployment and ask if you worked any during that week so say 20 hours at $10 an hour you would get $200 that week from pdl. Also that money is taxed but disability and your first 6 weeks or 8 csection are not taxed

portentosa

stephanie123456 said:

Wait... So if I was only going to use two weeks of the bonding PDL pay then return to work, could I return part-time for four weeks and still get the 60% from EDD and then my 40% from my employer?

I don't have personal experience with using the benefits and working part-time at the same time. I found this link, but even it says every situation is different so contact SDI for clarification.
https://www.edd.ca.gov/disability/PFL_Part-time_Worker.htm

Maybe @Jayhawkali can provide some more info from her experience.

GlitterMuffin914

This has all been so very helpful! Thank you!!