Maternity Leave in California: Understand the Money Part

When I was preparing to go on maternity leave, I found myself so confused with all of the information presented to me by the HR representative at my company. While they were trying to be helpful in giving me all of the information about my rights, all I really wanted was to get down to the bottom line: the money.

I wanted to know how long I could stay out and continue getting paid, and how much I would get paid during that time. It was all very confusing to me, but now that I am nearing the end of my maternity leave, I have finally figured it out.

First of all, I want to clarify that I am just talking about the money part. The HR person at your work will probably give you all kinds of information about job protection and how long you can stay out of work unpaid, but realistically, chances are that if you live in California, you probably can't afford to stay out of work unpaid.

Basically, as far as the state is concerned, your maternity leave breaks down into 3 sections: Before you have the baby, recovery, and baby bonding time.

Before You Have The Baby
In California, State Disability allows you to leave work (paid) up to 4 weeks before your scheduled due date. I very HIGHLY recommend that you take the whole time. If you don't take it, you lose it. You cannot add this time on to your recovery time. Many women end up having their babies early, so you may not end up getting 4 weeks anyway.

Here is the confusing part. From the moment you leave work (which can only be as early as 4 weeks before), there is a 7 day (total, not work days) period that you do not get paid for. So, even though they tell you that you get 4 weeks before paid, you really only get 4 weeks if you leave 4 weeks before your due date, and then you are a week late. The good thing is, most doctors will induce labor if you are later than one week, so don't worry about leaving work too early- 4 weeks before your due date is usually safe.

Now here is the important part: State Disability will pay you a portion of your pay- they will not pay 100%. You will get somewhere between 55 and 60%. You will be informed of the exact figure about 1-2 weeks after you send in the form. The good thing is, if you are making less now than you were say six months ago, the state will base the amount you get paid off of your highest quarterly average in the last year. To find out more about the quarters, check out the state website here:
Benefits Information

To file this, just make sure you bring it up with your doctor at about 35 weeks pregnant, if you want to get the whole benefit that you are entitled to. Many doctors' offices keep copies of the State Disability Form there, and will fill it out for you to leave work at 36 weeks. Unfortunately, a lot of doctors now charge for paperwork and require a few days for processing, so make sure you give adequate time. Unless your doctor orders you to bed rest or something like that, he will probably not mention disability with you, so make sure you remember to mention it soon enough.

The information above applies to normal pregnancies without complications, and typical employment situations. If you have complications requiring you to leave work earlier, you doctor can certify you as disabled earlier and you will get disability pay for the time you are out, even if it is longer than four weeks. If you have the type of job (say a waitress or a hairdresser) that become difficult to do while you are pregnant, your doctor may be able to certify you as disabled earlier too. There is more information about these special circumstances here:
Questions about pregnancy leave

Recovery
After you have the baby, you will receive a call from the State Disability office to confirm details about the birth. Basically, you will continue to get disability pay for 6 weeks after a vaginal delivery, or 8 weeks after a C-Section. At the end of this time, you will receive a form in the mail. If you are still in pain, or having any complications, you can bring this form to your doctor, who can request that you remain on disability for longer. Be aware, it is hard to cheat the system on this- so just don't try. Unless you really had a horrible delivery and are still bleeding at 6 weeks, chances are that the doctor is going to tell you that you are okay to work (and to have sex, but that's a whole nother article). However, read on, because this does not mean that you are out of money and back to work. In 2004, the state instituted the Paid Family Leave Program.

Baby Bonding Time - Paid Family Leave
When your disability runs out (usually at 6 weeks postpartum), you will get a letter about the Paid Family Leave program. This program allows you to continue getting the amount of money you were getting on disability for up to 6 weeks to bond with your baby. Just fill out the form that will come with your last disability pay check, and tell them that you will continue to remain at home with your child for the full six weeks allowed. More information is available on this website:
Paid Family Leave

Now, I know I said I wasn't going to talk about job protection, but I feel I should mention here that, depending on when you left and when the baby came, your job protection (under FMLA- a federal program) may run out before the Paid Family Leave money runs out. Assuming your company likes you and that your job is secure, this is not a problem with most employers, but it is something that you should discuss with your employer.

In Summary...
To sum it all up, you are going to get paid approximately 60% of your regular wages for up to 12 weeks after your baby is born.

It is a good idea to plan early for this, so that you can afford to take full advantage of the time you are allowed, both before and after the baby is born. If you are the type of person who lives paycheck to paycheck (like me), then you may need to save up some money to take care of that other 40% of the money you are used to having. Some employers have private disability benefits that will pay you the difference (or a percentage of the difference), but that is usually just for the 6 weeks of recovery after the baby is born. Having money saved up helps. If you receive gift cards or cash as gifts at your baby shower, saving these for that time can really help to.

If you do find that the money runs short before you are ready to back to work, don't panic or rush back to work before you have to. Writing articles on Associated Content has seriously helped supplement that missing 40%, and there are other things you can do as well. Try looking into paid focus groups, selling your maternity clothes on ebay, or having a garage sale. Don't give up; your baby is only a newborn once!