CA Paid Family Leave

California Paid Family Leave provides you with 6 weeks of partial income replacement to care for a sick or injured family member.  Baby bonding time qualifies for this paid leave.  

The CA Paid Family Leave comprises weeks 13 - 18 of your partially funded pregnancy and maternity leave.  It is designed to kick in AFTER California SDI benefits are exhausted, and allows you to spend additional time bonding with your baby.  What you will find on this page:

• Key provisions
• Who is covered
• Affording the lost income
• Other CA paid leave programs
  
  

The California Paid Family Leave (PFL) Law provides workers with a maximum of six weeks of partial pay each year while taking time off from work to:

• Care for a seriously ill child, spouse, parent, or registered domestic partner
• Bond with your new child or the new child of your spouse or registered domestic partner
• Bond with a child in connection with the adoption or foster care placement of the child with you, your spouse or registered domestic partner.

A serious health condition means an illness, injury, impairment, or physical or mental condition of a patient that involves inpatient care in a hospital, hospice, or residential medical care facility.

 California Paid Family Leave specifies a variety of exceptions around who is covered and when.

There is a seven-day waiting period before you can receive PFL benefits. Employers may require you to use a maximum of two weeks of vacation time before receiving PFL benefits. One week of this vacation time will be used to cover the seven-day waiting period.

You may receive PFL benefits during leave that is taken all at one time or on an intermittent basis in hourly, daily or weekly increments. 

You may not receive PFL insurance benefits if you are already receiving State Disability Insurance, Unemployment Compensation, or Workers' Compensation.

Your employer is not required to grant time off nor to hold a job for you unless your employer is covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA).

CA Paid Family Leave is designed to kick in AFTER your state disability benefits are exhausted, and allows you to spend additional time bonding with your baby.

California workers who already pay into the CA State Disability Insurance (SDI) are also covered by the California Paid Family Leave (PFL) insurance. PFL benefits will replace approximately 55% of wages up to a maximum of $987 per week in 2010.

How long can you pay your bills with a 45% pay cut?  Consider purchasing supplemental short term disability prior to conception to increase your maternity leave income.