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Northern California Babies
More maternity leave/SDI/FMLA questions...
DH and I are trying to figure our budget for when I'm on leave....
SDI is roughly 60% of your salary before taxes, right? Do you get taxed on that at the end of the year? Is it the same with FMLA?
I keep hearing about a one-week delay in payment. What is that about?
Is there a delay in FMLA payments as well?
And do the checks get sent weekly, or bi-weekly?
I'm sure there is more, but that is all I can think of right now.
Thanks ladies!
This discussion has been closed.
Re: More maternity leave/SDI/FMLA questions...
Your benefit amount is based on your highest paid quarter in the previous 12 month period, as based on when your leave starts. Example: My disability will start in September, so my benefit is based on the highest paid quarter in the 12 mo. period ENDING March 31, 2010 (so back to April 1, 2009)
There's a chart you can download from edd.gov that shows the benefit amounts weekly, and IIRC, you actually get a check every 2 weeks.
Your HR dept at work should easily be able to tell you your quarterly earnings. (Mine has a binder of quarterly statements; it took her 2 minutes to get me that info!)
ETA: Benefit chart
PFL is actually the second wave of payments you'll receive. FMLA doesn't actually pay out anything. I believe it just deals with job security.
I got paid in a lump sum, but I think I procrastinated on the paperwork. lol.
You get taxed on one, but not the other. I googled to figure out which, but can't remember now. I'll check again.
SDI is roughly 60% of your salary before taxes, right? Do you get taxed on that at the end of the year? Is it the same with FMLA? I was not taxed on SDI, but I was taxed on PFL.
I keep hearing about a one-week delay in payment. What is that about? I took 40 hours of sick time to get paid for that week. I don't know why SDI requires that gap.
Is there a delay in FMLA payments as well? No, PFL follows SDI as soon as it runs out.
And do the checks get sent weekly, or bi-weekly? I got mine bi-weekly (I think!).
This is what I understand:
You are not taxed on SDI, but you are taxed on PFL.
there is a 7 day wait period before your benefits kick in, so I think that's where the one week delay is coming from. There is no delay in the PFL payments because you've already satisfied the wait period with the SDI benefits.
I received my checks bi-weekly.
No $$ comes from FMLA, it's just the law that protects your job and benefits while you are out on leave.
The SDI payment is about 55% of your gross pay from the highest grossing quarter in the previous 4 quarters. Which typically doesn't mean much to most people, but say you took a pay cut or something, your pay would be based on the highest grossing quarter of the previous year. So that works out to be a good thing.
It is 55% of gross, so any other deductions from your check are not taken out (like your medical co-pay, 401K, FSA, etc). However, your employer may ask you to pay your medical co-pay while you are out. My employer continues to pay their portion of my benefits, but I am responsible for sending them what is usually taken out of my check each pay period. Sounds crappy, but in the past you had to pay the full premium so it could be worse!
There is a 7 day delay in SDI and PFL (paid family leave). Meaning, you really only get 5 weeks of each.
SDI is not taxed at the end of the year. You do not claim it on your federal or state taxes.
PFL is taxable at the end of the year.
If I remember correctly, checks are sent bi-weekly but can have several weeks on them. Like the first check I get this time will likely have 2+ weeks of pay on it.
You can't file until you are actually on leave, so with the 7 day no pay rule and the processing time, you will need some savings or money available to close that gap. It typically doesn't take a month, but I plan on a month without a check to be safe.
PFL is not taxed by the state. "For state tax purposes, Paid Family Leave benefit payments are not taxable by California pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 17083." I seem to be remembering the rest differently from the other posters, so I'll defer to them.
And yeah, I used that chart Liz is talking about to calculate the payments and it was accurate. I think mine was 55% of my previous income.
I believe it was just federal taxes I had to claim PFL on. I got a 1099 for it. Turbo Tax took care of the rest for me!