California laws provide the greatest level of job protection and partially paid leave for pregnancy and maternity leave of any state in the U.S. Four laws combine to provide a working woman in California nearly 7 months of protection: Pregnancy Disability Leave, Family Medical Leave, Short Term Disability (SDI), and Paid Family Leave. But the partially paid leave means taking at least a 45% pay cut during this time. Buy supplemental short term disability insurance before getting pregnant to help you survive financially if you miss seven months of work.
California Pregnancy and Maternity Laws
The California Pregnancy Disability Leave law protects your job for up to four months for bed rest, child birth, and recovery from child birth. The Family Rights Act allows for 12 weeks of job protected leave to bond with your baby. Should you exhaust your four months of leave prior to delivery, the second law gives you a fresh set of twelve weeks totaling your seven month total of job protected leave.
California Short Term Disability Insurance (SDI) replaces up to 55% of your income. It includes four weeks of leave prior to your delivery automatically. And if you experience complications and need to miss work before your eight month, SDI may replace your income during this time as well - but at a 45% pay cut. You will also receive benefits during your maternity leave for six weeks and longer if you experience complications in delivery.
California Paid Family Leave picks up where SDI leaves off and provides an additional six weeks at 55% income replacement to enable you to bond with your baby.
How to Survive 7 Months with a 45% Pay Cut
A 55% income replacement means a 45% pay cut. You can survive seven months away from work by buying supplemental short term disability insurance before getting pregnant. This policy will help fill the hole in the California state coverage by increasing your level of income replacement. Both policies will cover your normal labor and delivery, as well as any time missed before delivery for medical complications.
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