Mat leave advice in CA

Roxie5739 · May 2013

I work for a mid sized company and do qualify for FMLA.

I plan to take the 12 weeks off but not sure if that 12 weeks starts from delivery date or when I go out. I am working as long as I can now but would love at least a week off prior to delivery for me.

will ant time off before hand use up the 12w of job protection from FMLA?

mben1119 · May 2013

Yes, going out before delivery would eat into your 12 weeks.

EastCoastBride · May 2013

mabenner1:
Yes, going out before delivery would eat into your 12 weeks.

Yup. This! This is why I worked up to and past my delivery date. I wanted absolutely as much time at home w/ the baby as possible.

rockychryslerb2010 · May 2013

My company offered a STD plan available two weeks before due date. I took that and then my 13 weeks maternity leave started the day I had E. I ended up being out 14 weeks, starting two weeks before my due date and one week before E was born.

It varies company by company, I know the STD is a common benefit in my industry. Ask your HR, I didn't know about it until my 2nd or 3rd discussion with HR rep.

siempreyo · May 2013

This may be different in CA - I too am still trying to figure it out. CA is a state that has higher standards/benefits for maternity leave and offer some time off before and in addition to the 12 weeks offered by FMLA that is termed something like Paid Family Bonding Leave (for dads too!) and my current understanding is that this also comes with job protection, so many individuals can take more than 12 weeks off.

here is a site I found that lays it out some; I am using it in my research. She works for the government (not sure if you do,but I don't), but I still think there is a lot that is applicable.

https://newmommydiary.com/2011/maternity-leave-in-california/

Right now I am thinking I will try to take one to two weeks off before my EDD that won't count towards my FMLA.

Good luck!

Valerie120408 · May 2013

You may be able to take 4 weeks prior to your due date and 18 weeks after the birth of the baby - you may want to read the information available at ca.gov.

RedDDD · May 2013

starts the day you go out

RedDDD · May 2013

I would read this and talk to your HR dept. for clarification.

https://www.employmentlawhq.com/state-requirements/california.html

CupcakeLady041709 · May 2013

Google CFRA. Here is a link to a PDF with some information as well. www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/orim/fmla/DGSFMLAPolicyProcedures.pdf

With DS I had no idea about the additional leave so only took the 12 weeks of FMLA. When I was pregnant with DD I did some research on my own and found out that CA offers a lot more job projected time off (if you qualify for FMLA) than other states. I think NJ has something similiar as well.

Anyway, with DD my last day of work was December 2, 2011 and I didn't have to return until May 7, 2012. That was all job protected as well. Kind of bummed I didn't realize that I had that when I had my DS but oh well.

ETA: FMLA and CFRA do not run concurrently.

AZ123 · May 2013

I've gone through 2 maternity leaves in CA. You first have Short Term Disability through the state of California. That's dependent on whether you have a vaginal delivery or c section (6 or 8 weeks). You get paid 55% of your wages through the state. Once that leave is complete, you automatically get the Paid Famiily Leave Act, which is another 6 weeks paid at 55%. Be sure to make a note when you file your taxes next year that you pay federal tax on the 55% but NOT state tax. This is because you've already paid state tax on the 55% when you contributed to state disability via your paycheck.

As for the timing, you need your doctor to release you from work in order to start the clock on the leave and be eligible for state disability. Check with your company because some companies have you use all your available PTO and vacation time BEFORE you start your leave If that's the case, then you'd for sure want to start your leave the week before your due date. Luckily, my company didn't make me do that.

portentosa · May 2013

I talked about leave in CA in a different thread about leave before I saw this thread.

trombgirl:
STD is paid time off separate of FMLA. Unless you have a medical issue requiring you to leave work earlier the earliest your doc will put you out of work (therefore qualifying you for STD) is 4 weeks before your due date.
FMLA is 12 weeks job protection that starts when you leave so if you go out 4 weeks before your due date, you'll only have 8 weeks after (if baby is on time that is). FMLA is not paid in any way though. If paid time off is important to you then you need to be cautious because again STD is different than FMLA. If you have a vaginal delivery you only qualify for 6 weeks PP, 8 weeks for c-section.
Since paid time off was all I could afford to take and because I work 50 hour weeks retail management on my feet all the time I decided to take off 4 weeks before my due date. DS was born 1 week early so I got paid STD for the 3 weeks before and 6 weeks after (vaginal delivery). Luckily I live in CA where they have 6 weeks paid family leave that you can take any time in your child's first year. I opted to take mine right after my STD expired so I got a total of 15 weeks paid time off before returning to work.
I could have used my remaining weeks of FMLA before using CA's PFL program and used another job-protection program CA has (can't remember it) and stayed out of work until May 6th without losing my position, but I needed to go back for my paycheck and went back in the day after my paid benefits ended. I got 3 weeks before my due date to prepare the house, relax, and sleep (oh how I miss sleep!) and 12 precious weeks after DS was born. I'm happy with the way I worked it.

Mustardseed2007 · May 2013

California deffinitely has more leave as some of the PPs have said htan what is provided under FMLA. I would talk to your HR department about how that is administered in your company b/c you may get more pay than the state provides if they have STD pay available. And also if you have unpaid leave through either program, you'll want to know what paid leave you have to use ie STD, vacation, sick etc. b/c that may effect how you want to take that leave.

For instance, in a state like Texas there is no separate leave or pay, so you use up your unpaid FMLA as soon as you go out and some companies require you to use vacation and sick pay during that 12 week period so that when you are done with your 12 weeks of leave, you have no other leave to take your kid to the doctor or anything after you go back to work. Which really is tough.

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