4 weeks of CA SDI runs out if baby arrives late?

I recommend they reach out to Legal Aid At Work's hotline. We worked with an attorney via the hotline when my husband's work tried to do some shady stuff re his PFL. Their attorneys know the law deeply and have helped many people.

https://legalaidatwork.org/our-programs/work-and-family-program/

• We run a free Work and Family Helpline and we hear from over 1,000 workers every year who have questions about (or experience violations of) paid leave and related rights that could help them keep their jobs and income while caring for their own health or the health of their loved ones. On our helpline, we hear from families every day who lack protection under existing laws or who are protected but face systemic barriers to accessing their rights. 

Helpline: https://legalaidatwork.org/clinics/work-and-family-clinic/ 

California treats pregnancy disability leave (PDL) and paid leave (SDI) somewhat separately. Your friend will have no problem with their employment status - I believe the limit is 16 weeks or something for PDL which allows you to be on leave for pregnancy related disability (usually 4 weeks) and disability due to birth (6 weeks for vaginal, 8 weeks for C-section, or longer if doctor deems necessary). If you need more than 4 weeks pre-birth, you typically have a doctor write a note saying so. All that being said - continuous employment status/job protection should not be an issue at all under Pregnancy Disability Leave. 

I do not have personal experience for what happens to your SDI benefits in the time between 40 weeks and when the baby is born - so hopefully someone else can answer that for you - but the doctor's notes seem to go a long way so hopefully there is no lapse in benefits. One thing to note is that no matter what, the benefits (payments) start 1 week after the claim event, which I personally think is pretty lame! 

That any HR department of any company doing business in California contends they do not understand California's protections for birthing mothers is unacceptable!!!

FYI:   I'm not an attorney.   My experience has been quick phone call to California Attorney General's office and/or filing an information complaint should not take long and will provide legally enforcable answers to this issue!

https://oag.ca.gov/contact/consumer-complaint-against-business-or-compa…

Hi, I delivered at 41 weeks and my STD covered that 5th week, with no issue. 

She should be eligible for pregnancy disability benefits as long as she remains unable to perform her regular work due to pregnancy-related conditions. She may have to file paperwork to confirm her disability is ongoing, but SDI should cover her up until she gives birth and for 6 weeks after vaginal delivery / 8 weeks after c-section delivery, or longer if required and certified by her physician. There's more info on the SDI Q&A here: https://edd.ca.gov/en/disability/faq_di_pregnancy

I didn't run into this issue myself even though my baby came 9 days late, because I left work at 38 weeks, but my sister-in-law left at 36 weeks and delivered 7 days late and had no issue. I also work for a union representing workers so am familiar with these benefits. Shouldn't be a problem but the EDD website isn't very user-friendly, she should attend to any notifications she gets about needing to re-certify. 

Your doctor would just fill out a form to extend SDI benefits. I received SDI at 35 weeks to an early scheduled c-section and just needed doctor approval. 

I'm sure you'll get tons of answers saying the same thing.  Your disability begins 4 weeks before your due date and ends whenever you have the baby, whether it's in the next day or 6 weeks later. Then your postpartum disability continues, 6 weeks for vaginal birth and 8 weeks for a c section (unless something else drastic happens).  Then you can take 8 weeks family leave anytime in the year after birth. 

I'm not a lawyer but I did use SDI and PFL when I had my son, and a key thing to know is that California benefits are just monetary benefits - they do not create job leave or protection. That depends on the company size, where they are based, and their own policies, etc. If the company is big enough to be required to provide FMLA, that's unpaid leave for 12 weeks with job protection. Then she could get CA SDI/PFL benefits to provide some compensation (assuming her job doesn't provide any, which they can but don't legally have to). I'm not sure if there's a limit to the pre-birth SDI or not. But if she get SDI before birth and wants PFL time, she can roll right from one into the next. That's what I did. She should check the website and/or call the SDI/PFL office for advice, they are super helpful in trying to figure out what your best move is. And remember this is paid for with a tax that workers pay! She's been paying in, so she should try to maximize her benefits. Best wishes!

The CA short-term disability leave is defined by the starting point of the 36th week of pregnancy, not by the 4 weeks before birth. The job is protected and wage replacement will continue even after the 40th week of pregnancy. 

Once birth takes place, then the 6-week period for vaginal delivery or 8-week period for cesarean delivery begins (assuming she qualifies for it, ie is not receiving full pay from her employer after birth). 

To be clear, the company’s HR rep is wrong. 

In California, you are considered disabled by an uncomplicated pregnancy beginning at 36 weeks (can start earlier if your doctor recommends it) and continuing until 6-8 weeks after birth (depending on whether you had a vaginal birth or C-section).  This is a continuous status — the point is that you are disabled by the demands of pregnancy and then by post-birth recovery, so your friend’s employer’s idea that her disability would evaporate at 40 weeks  is misguided. 

During this time, you can receive disability insurance benefits through the CA state disability program, plus any benefits offered by your employer.  (My babies both came at 42 weeks so I received 6 + 6 weeks of disability benefits.) 

Note that your 12 weeks of bonding leave under the CFRA only start once disability ENDS (i.e. 6-8 weeks post birth) so don’t let your friend get shortchanged by an unenlightened out-of-state employer! 

Obligatory "I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice", but have been researching a bunch for my wife's upcoming leave so happy to offer my understanding of how this works!

Under CA's Pregnancy Disability Leave laws, she's entitled to up to 4 months (17.3 weeks) of leave due to pregnancy-related disability. When she's allowed to take it and how much she's allowed to take is based on medical necessity (read: doctor's note). The "4 weeks before due date" is not actually a legal stipulation of how the leave works, it's just a very common practice among doctors to sign-off on PDL starting around 4-weeks before the due date. There's no magic "4 weeks and 4 weeks only before birth" - this is just around when the physical impacts of being pregnant are ubiquitous enough that no one will bat an eye at a doctor signing off starting leave. This could easily be more than 4 weeks if she has any sort of additional, atypical pregnancy symptoms that would warrant starting her PDL even earlier than 4 weeks.

So short answer, no, nothing "ends" right at the 40-week mark. If baby is late, nothing changes, she continues on her PDL exactly as-is. The only thing to be mindful of when it comes to the "disability" part of her leave (as differentiated from the "bonding" part of her leave, covered by CFRA if she qualifies) is that 17.3 week limit. For most people (i.e. uncomplicated pregnancy/delivery) this isn't an issue, because doctors tend to limit to the 4 weeks before and 6-8 weeks after, but if she has any complications that would qualify her to be out on disability longer, she can get capped at the 17.3 week limit.

CA Civil Rights Department has lots of good resources, like this fact sheet and these FAQs which I'd recommend passing along. The "Leave Requirements" section of the fact sheet in particular spells this out pretty clearly.

Last thing I'll say - remember that employers are incentivized to not make this easy and try to get you to take as little leave as possible, but these are your/her/our rights under state law. Stick with it! Fight the good fight!

Hope this helps!

No, CA SDI will not run out if the baby arrives late. Your doctor can certify for longer periods (i.e., longer than 4 weeks of prenatal SDI) if "you can't do your regular work" because you are still pregnant. You still get your full postpartum SDI (6 weeks for vaginal delivery or 8 weeks for C-section, generally) after the baby is born. This makes sense because SDI is for all disability claims, not just pregnancy, and you can imagine that people need to extend disability payments beyond the original period all the time. Source: https://edd.ca.gov/en/disability/faq_di_pregnancy ("if I file a claim for Disability Insurance due to my pregnancy, how long will I receive benefits?"), https://edd.ca.gov/en/disability/Discontinue_Continue_or_Extend_Your_DI_Benefits/ (Form DE 2525XX).

SDI provides payments, but not job protection. Job protection is instead provided by the Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL). PDL is what provides job protection while you're out on disability leave (CA Family Rights Act then provides job protection while you're out on bonding leave). PDL in California is provided for up to 4 months per pregnancy. That is what will continue to protect her job if her baby comes a week or two after the due date. Sources: https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/32/2022/12/Pregnancy-Disability-Leave-Fact-Sheet_ENG.pdf, https://www.law.cornell.edu/regulations/california/2-CCR-11042, https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/employment/pdl-bonding-guide/ 

Your friend's HR is really mistaken and should probably consult with the company's general counsel. Very sorry she's dealing with this. 

Our baby was born 6 days after the due date so we were in this situation.  I’m no expert but my understanding, based on our experience, is that pregnancy disability status can begin on a date up to 4 weeks before the due date (for a pregnancy with no complications), but there’s no 4-week cap.  Job protections and SDI payments continue even if the baby comes late, because you continue to qualify as having a disability (ie, you continue to be in a late-stage pregnancy).  And disability status ends 6-8 weeks after the baby’s birth, depending on whether you have a C-section or not. 

(I'm not a lawyer, but...) Lots of babies come after the ""estimated** "due" date.  Leave can't start more than four weeks before the due date, but the "before" part doesn't suddenly end because baby hasn't been born yet. The total length of pregnancy-related disability leave is 10-12 weeks (may actually be longer depending on medical need), regardless of when in there the baby actually comes. "Leave can be taken before and after birth during any period of time the employee is physically unable to work because of pregnancy or a pregnancy-related condition. Leave can be taken before or after birth, intermittently, or continuously."

I highly recommend your friend check out these resources: 

Legal Aid at Work (good website an free legal aid hotline): https://legalaidatwork.org/

A Better Balance (webiste with state-by-state details on leave and accommodation laws). https://www.abetterbalance.org/

Hi there, both my kids came late and this was never an issue, the disability just automatically extended until they were born. Then it just automatically switched over to the 6 weeks of postpartum disability leave after the baby was born, if I’m remembering correctly.

If her employer has five or more employees, her leave for pregnancy disability should be protected for up to four months, which would include during pregnancy and recovery from childbirth. This may mean unpaid time if CA-SDI isn’t sufficient and her employer offers no other paid leave options. 

I recommend she review the information provided by the state on the various types of protections and when they apply. https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/employment/pdl-bonding-guide/
 

Hi there! Your friend shouldn’t worry about this. I did a LOT of research on the topic before having my daughter in 2021. The state website is not easy to navigate and find info on how it works, but I work for a large, CA-based company and was able to find someone in HR who explained it all for me and I took careful notes, and made the HR person review it for accuracy. So I feel confident sharing the info below (this assumes the mother is eligible for disability leave). 

“Pregnancy disability - first week unpaid, then approx 60% of salary through SDI)
     - In this period your pay comes from State Disability Insurance (SDI) which you apply for through EDD.  You are eligible for benefits after being off work for 7 calendar days; they issue you benefits starting the 8th day.  They can pay up to 52 weeks if you are considered disabled.  They pay 60-70% of your wages (calculated by taking your last 4 quarter earnings and average out your weekly wage).  From that weekly wage, you are given 60-70% with a max benefit of $1300/week issued out on a biweekly basis [this was the amount in 2021, not sure if it’s increased since].  You can have it sent via check or via debit card. The process can be done online or you can go to one of their offices and pick up the forms.  In the state of California, mothers can routinely start the pregnancy Disability Leave 4 weeks before their expected due date, but every pregnancy is different, some mothers go off sooner (paid after 7 days with a doctor's note) and some work up to their expected due date. Regardless, the Disability leave starts the first day you miss work due to your condition, in this case pregnancy. Pregnancy disability leave covers your pre-partum and post-partum time.  Depending on the type of delivery you have and if any complications arise one can have post-partum Disability leave of 6+ weeks.”

My understanding is that pregancy alone qualifies one for Pregnancy disability leave at 36 weeks (or possibly sooner if delivery is being scheduled earlier for a medical indication.) The prenatal care provider (like OB or midwife) signs off on it but there doesn’t have to be any medical issue other than simply being pregnant to go on disability at that time. If there are pregnancy complications then the provider can put the mother on paid pregnancy disability leave sooner and this has nothing to do with how much paid disability one gets after delivery. It’s 6 weeks after a normal vaginal delivery but again the provider can increase that time- 6 weeks is the minimum. 
I have in my notes that one is entitled to 4 months of pregnancy disability leave and if you need more you can request that as a disability accommodation- not sure if rhay is specific to my company or for anyone in CA..

This link might be helpful: https://edd.ca.gov/siteassets/files/Disability/pdf/PFLNewMotherTraining…
 

Here is some additional info from my notes:

After 6 (or more, depending on your medical needs) weeks of post-partum Disability Leave, "baby bonding" time starts - employees have the right to take up to 12 weeks off for bonding time 

     -  Starts once Disability is over
     - Can apply for CA Paid Family Leave (eligibility: 1 year of service and 1250 hours worked) during this time, which covers 8 weeks at approx 60% of salary, then PTO could be used for the remaining 4 weeks (or take unpaid).

I have a little more info, but I have reached the character limit, feel free to message me. 
I started leave at 36 weeks & no problem