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California Disability

prettyinpink120prettyinpink120 member
in 1st Trimester

Hi all, I'm not sure if this is the right place to posted this but if you live in California and know anything about how short term disability works I would love your help.

I emailed my HR to get information on maternity leave and basically was told they don?t know, but would find out. the problem is that I?m in California and my HR is in New York and I guess in the first of their California employees to get pregnant.

my HR did tell me about FMLA, she said I was also entitled to California disability and my Work disability that the company offers. and that I can get up to 18 weeks (with disability pay) with the 2 disabilities, this seems like a really long time to get off, do you think this can be right? HR did say that she would need to make more calls to be sure.

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Re: California Disability

  • lovin life23lovin life23 member

    so you can get up to 4 wks before your EDD (dr has to basically give you a script for the time off per pregnancy related stuff) and then you can get up to 12 wks "mat leave" which isnt true mat leave its like...disability and paid family leave...

    all I know is you can get 4 wks before (dr ordered) and 12 wks after at about 55%-60% pay...your job is kept safe for those 12 wks..anything after that technically your job doesnt have to hold your job so it would be between you and HR or your boss after that if you have a good relationship...and the first week of your time off "mat leave" is unpaid it kicks in a week later...that being said..if you only do like 6/8/10 wks thats what you get..you dont get paid out for the 12 wks unless you use them all....thats quite a difference in pay for me so we are saving extra right now to help make up for that difference...I have to look at it all more too...

     

    ETA: i work for a very small 12 person office so what I get is purely from the state pretty much with PFL or FMLA or disability (not sure which I use when) again, i am still fuzzy...but my job doesnt offer anything really..too small..

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  • MexiCaliMexiCali

    For FMLA to work you would have to have been there for a year and have 50 or more employers. FMLA secures your job while you are out on maternity leave.

    Short term disability will cover the first 6 wks you are off on maternity leave  at 55%-60% and then it will automatically roll over the PFL at the same percentage. The percentage is calculated based on the last calendar year.

     Double check with your employer about vacation and sick. My company requires that I use it up before I start disabilty. They will also use a portion to cover my insurance and dependent care account. Like a cash out. That is another question you should raise. Will they cover my insurance or any deductions such as 401K..etc while you are out?

     Also, PFL can be spread out. So if you want to take 6 weeks in the beginning and take another 6 weeks at the end of the year, you can.

     My company offers an additional benefit that allowed my percentage to be 75% when I was out. So I am not sure what yours offers beyond the normal, but I would double checks.

     Another thing: Disability takes a week to kick in. If you have a vacation, use that and file your paper work for the same day. You will get paid vacation and then Disability will automatically start right after your vacation. If not, you will have a week of no pay.

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  • ElBellesMomElBellesMom member
    Yes to what everyone else has said. But I will tell you to be careful and double check with your employer on the company paid leave. My company did the same thing, I got 55% from Cal Disability and my employer was supposed to make up the rest to equal 100% of my pay for 8 weeks that I was off and 75% after that. The four weeks before you are due is "use it or lose it". State of CA says women can go on disability 4 weeks before their due date for no reason other than pregnancy as long as your OB is willing to sign the paper work. My OB did sign the paperwork, I went out 4 weeks before and was expecting to get 100% pay (55 from state, 45 from employer), then got a call from my company tell me that since our corporate HR is not in California they don't have to follow CA disability leave. They don't have the same set of standards as CA and weren't going to pay for those four weeks- better yet if they denied those four weeks they would deny my entire claim and not pay me at all- which meant I would only receive 55 from CA. Luckily my local HR dept. stepped in and they decided they would only start paying the other 45% once I had my daughter. All of that was WAY to stressful during my 36-37th week of pregnancy- So DEFINITELY double check to make sure your employer will cover you if you decide to use the 4 weeks before. HTH!
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  • ASmallWonderASmallWonder member
    One thing to be clear on with short term disability is that it is a DISABILITY policy, not a maternity policy.  So the policy might state that you CAN take x number of weeks, that means you need to be actually medically disabled, per your doctor, for all those weeks.  An issue free delivery isn't going to disable you for the full amount of time covered under the policy.  A vaginal delivery is typically 6 weeks and a c section, 8.
    Formerly known as elmoali :)

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