SDI Questions

kparmon

Hi!  This is my first post and I want to thank you all in advance for reading this.  Do any of you fully understand Short Term Disability Insurance?  I know I've been paying into it.  I am a bartender and do not have health insurance or maternity leave provided by my company.  I work in a fairly unsafe environment (fairly illegal, too, I'm sure- smoke billows in through the windows and I have to climb an unsafe structure to get bottles) and am hoping to be able to afford to not work towards the end of my second trimester.  I'm doing my best to get through it now and would take off of work if I could but I just can't afford to.  I was hoping that SDI would supplement my income for a few months but it looks Iike it will only cover four weeks before I deliver and six weeks after.  Is this true?  If my doctor declares my job environment unsafe will I be able to get SDI early?  Any help you could provide would be much appreciated. 

orangecurls

So I am not an expert, but I believe your doctor would need to declare you unable to work, in order for you to receive sdi benefits.

Johannakb

Through the state of ca. You can get up to 12 weeks disability. You get 6 weeks of maternity leave and then 6 weeks after that for family bonding. You can start when you are at 36 weeks unless your doctor says you have to stop working before 36 week, then i believe you can get disability for a longer period of time. The amount you get depends on what you have made in the past year. Your doctors office or hospital should have someone to explain it to you. They may even be able to submit the forms directly. They did for me at kaiser.

kparmon

Thanks for the info!