Need Parental Leave in California? The 6 Things That Might Surprise (or Confuse) You

Despite working in health care administration and describing herself as “a little type A,” first-time mother Rabiha Ahmed-Sheikh of Hayward said neither proved an advantage when wrestling with her maternity leave options.

“This is such a confusing thing if you’ve not gone through it before,” Ahmed-Sheikh said. “It’s really hard to know if you’re doing the right thing.”

Ahmed-Sheikh struggled for years with infertility and miscarriages before becoming pregnant with her first child last year. Like many moms, she said she got more valuable information from chatting with coworkers in the hallway than from the parental leave webinar her employer offered.

Ahmed-Sheikh had not yet emerged from sleepless nights and what she referred to as an emotional funk when she returned to work in April, five months after giving birth by emergency cesarean section. She learned that she’d inadvertently used up her employer-provided paid time off while she was out.

“I felt kind of cheated,” she said.

‘Such a confusing thing’

Ahmed-Sheikh hadn’t realized asking her company to bank her PTO for later was even an option. And after her physician recently referred her to a postpartum support group, she’s now exploring whether she might be eligible to resume paid disability benefits, which, in the most extreme cases, can be extended for up to a full year.

And she’s not alone in this; navigating maternity leave can be incredibly confusing for many expectant parents. So KQED spoke to Julia Parish, senior staff attorney at Legal Aid at Work, a nonprofit advocacy group that helps people understand their workplace rights, to break down the parts of taking parental leave in California that can trip up parents-to-be, and the aspects that are often downright unexpected.

Please note that this isn’t legal advice, and you should always seek guidance on your specific situation. You’ll also find more resources and further reading at the bottom of this story.

Don’t assume ‘parental leave’ always means ‘paid time off’

Think of parental leave as falling into two categories: “pay” and “time off work,” with job protection, Parish said. In this context, “job protection” means you should return to the same position or a comparable one when you return.

The two categories have different eligibility requirements and timeframes, said Parish. Ideally, they’ll “line up and people get both at the same time for the same period of time.” But be warned: “It doesn’t always work that way,” she said.

The big picture: In an uncomplicated pregnancy and childbirth, your job protection will last longer than the money. In California, you can get up to 22–24 weeks of job protection and 17–19 weeks of pay, depending on how you deliver your baby.

If you experience complications — such as preeclampsia, placenta previa, persistent postpartum depression, anxiety or even pregnancy loss — the paid portion of your leave can increase, up to a maximum of 52 weeks with seven months of job protection and pay for the whole disability period, minus five weeks.

(The five-week gap in disability pay reflects the one-week waiting period for disability pay, plus the four-week gap between bonding pay and bonding job protection — more on this below.)

The paid portion of your leave may even eclipse the typical job protection thresholds noted above.

At this point, unless your employer can prove hardship, you may be eligible for other disability-related job protections under the state’s Fair Employment and Housing Act and the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

Not all employees get the same length of parental leave — or are even eligible

Federal employees, state employees and teachers all have different programs and policies around parental leave. If you’re in one of these roles, you can check in with your union about what your contract offers.

But if you’re an independent contractor, you may not even be entitled to any assistance with parental leave, although this may be different if you choose to contribute to the Disability Insurance Elective Coverage program.

To determine if you’re eligible for pay, check your pay stubs. Do you contribute to California State Disability or SDI? Have you earned at least $300 in your “base period”? If yes, you’re likely eligible for paid leave regardless of immigration status.

To determine if you may be able to take protected time off, ask yourself:

• Will you have worked for your employer for at least one year by the time you’re going on leave?
• Does your employer have at least five employees?
• Will you have worked 1,250 hours in the year before your leave starts?

If you answered “yes” to all of the questions, then it’s likely you’ll get the maximum benefit when it comes to your protected leave. If you answered “no” to any of them, that’ll affect how much time you’ll be able to get off work.

In California, you’ll start your parental leave through programs intended for healing …

Californians can use these two programs to initially go on parental leave:

• State Disability Insurance, or SDI (for your pay) 
• Pregnancy Disability Leave, or PDL (for your job protection)

How it works: Unless your doctor orders you to take it easy even earlier, you’ll temporarily retire from your job four weeks before your due date. Parish said there’s no advantage to not doing this, unless, of course, you need your full pay.

She also said that it’s also a common misconception among employers that starting SDI and PDL before the birth — rather than when it happens — will mean you’ll lose four weeks of paid leave on the other side, which isn’t true. That’s because California’s laws are actually more robust than the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, which offers a total of 12 weeks. The FMLA isn’t really relevant to Californians unless they are federal employees, said Parish.

Since SDI has a one-week unpaid waiting period, you can apply on your first day of leave. You’ll continue to be paid through SDI for six to eight weeks after giving birth — with C-section births qualifying for the longer duration — minus a one-week unpaid waiting period.

In 2025, SDI will cover 90% of wages for those earning under $60,000 a year and 70% for those with higher incomes, up to a cap of about $1,600 a week. There’s more on how SDI can be extended in certain circumstances below.

Meanwhile, your time off is provided by PDL, which ensures that your job, or a comparable position, is secure for about four months from your first day out on leave.

… followed by leave intended for bonding with your baby

After using SDI and PDL for time to heal, a person can then use these two benefits, intended to allow a bonding period for a new family:

• Paid Family Leave, or PFL (for your pay)
• California Family Rights Act or CFRA (for your job protection).

The benefits aren’t just for new moms. Parish said bonding benefits are “underused by other parents, like dads or foster parents or adoptive parents and other people that are responsible for caring for the baby.”

PFL pay lasts for eight weeks and can be taken intermittently up until your baby turns one. It uses the same pay formula as mothers get with SDI. That is to say, the amount you get paid by PFL is calculated using the highest earning quarter of your last year. (Those who work for a San Francisco employer may even be eligible to get their pay increased to 100% during this time, thanks to San Francisco’s Paid Parental Leave Ordinance.)

CFRA, meanwhile, provides 12 weeks of job protection for bonding.

You have options to extend parental leave due to pregnancy or birth-related disability

Californians who have a health condition after a birth that’s classified as a disability, including postpartum depression and anxiety that prevents them from working, can extend SDI disability pay up to 52 weeks in some cases.

Be aware that the job protections from PDL and CFRA would only cover you for a total of seven months off the job, although other job protections, such as reasonable disability accommodations, might be possible unless your employer can prove hardship.

To extend your disability for persistent postpartum depression or another condition, a certified medical provider — such as a doctor, doctor-supervised midwife, psychiatrist or psychologist — must submit documentation to the Employment Development Department. Be aware that while licensed marriage and family therapists or licensed clinical social workers can diagnose the conditions and may communicate with your doctor, they aren’t currently included in EDD’s list of professionals approved to help you get extended wage replacement for your disability (However, therapists can certify you for extended time off, which may be useful if you’re new to your workplace and not yet eligible for disability pay.)

Parish said that this extension also requires you to provide your employer with a doctor’s note explaining that you’re still recovering from a pregnancy or childbirth-related disability, which doesn’t need to name the specific diagnosis.

How your existing PTO and sick leave relate to parental leave can depend on your employer

This is an area where employer rules can really vary. For example, your employer may require you to only use sick or vacation time during certain periods.

A good rule of thumb, said Parish, is to answer this question: Is your goal to maximize your time off? Or your pay?

You can also work with your human resources department to strategize how best to navigate this aspect. If you still have questions, call Legal Aid at Work’s helpline at 800-880-8047.

Want more reading about taking leave after childbirth?

• Pregnancy/Parenting + My Job (in California), from Legal Aid at Work
• Video: Pregnant and Parenting Employees’ Workplace Rights to Paid Leave and Accommodations in California, from Legal Aid at Work
• FAQ: Pregnancy Disability, from California’s Civil Rights Department
• Combined Wages With Benefits, from EDD
• Disability Insurance — Pregnancy FAQs, from EDD

Ask EDD: Submit a question directly to EDD about your situation by selecting Paid Family Leave > Miscellaneous Inquiry > Other (Questions).