Understanding Disability During the Pregnancy Period in California
When to file a Pregnancy Disability in California. Pregnant mother in California, and you’re wondering when to file disability claims related to your pregnancy, paid family leave claims. The process can seem so confusing. I’m going to explain when to file, how the process works when you get paid, how long you can take for disability, and how long you can take for paid family leave.
Understanding the Process: Pregnancy Disability In California
I’ll also end with a real-life example and tell you how to calculate the amount that you should expect to be paid out for both paid family leave and pregnancy-related disability claims. You must educate yourself on this process so you don’t lose out on thousands of dollars. I do want to let you know that this article is specifically for pregnant moms in California who aren’t going to be receiving leave benefits through their employer. So, this is a mom who most likely works for a smaller company that isn’t obligated to offer leave benefits.
Who Qualifies for Pregnancy Disability In The State Of California?
Who qualifies? It’s very simple. If you are employed in California and you have paid at least $300 into SDI through your paycheck in the previous 5 to 18 months from the date you filed your claim, and you are not working or working part-time. If you used to work full-time, you are most likely eligible for benefits. You will be filing two claims on the EDD.
Filing the First Claim:
The first claim that you’re going to be filing is your disability claim. When do you file this claim? Most women file this claim four weeks before their due date. That is because most women cannot perform their normal work duties for about 36 weeks. Now, if you have pregnancy complications, you may be eligible to file before four weeks. Or you may be feeling great, you don’t want to stop working. You don’t care about getting the disability benefits before your due date, so you may work until you give birth.
Criteria for Starting Your Disability Claim in California
The major criteria for starting your disability claim is that you cannot perform your work duties. Your doctor or physician is willing to file a statement in your claim saying that you cannot do your duties. The other piece of this is that if you have stopped working or are working fewer hours than before, then you would be eligible for partial benefits.
Women have asked
“I’m planning ongoing on disability on this day. Can I file prior? I’d like to get my claim, too.” No, you cannot file your claim until you’ve actually started disability and stopped working.
What If You Don’t Give Birth On Your Due Date?
Now, what if you don’t give birth on your due date? For example, I filed for disability four weeks before my due date, but I didn’t deliver until two weeks after my due date. I got paid out for six weeks of disability before giving birth. When can you expect to get your first disability check? You can expect to get paid about two to three weeks after filing your claim, assuming you’ve filled out all the paperwork properly and your physician submitted their statement on time.
When Does It End? How Long Is Disability?
When does it end? How long is disability? Typically, disability starts four weeks before the due date, and you get six to eight weeks of disability after you’ve given birth. And it’s typically six weeks for a vaginal birth and eight weeks for a cesarean because the Cesarean usually takes a longer time to recover from.
Can You Stack Unused Weeks?
Another common question I get asked is if I didn’t take my four weeks before the due date, can I stack that onto the end of my disability? No, you cannot. You cannot use unused weeks from before you gave birth and stack them onto the end of your disability.
Filing for Paid Family Leave:
So, once your disability ends, you can file for paid family leave immediately. There’s no waiting period for Paid Family Leave. You can file as long as you are still not working, and your disability claim has ended. However, you don’t need to file for paid family leave right away. You could go back to work after your disability claim ends and then take the leave at a later date. You can file for paid family leave up to 1 year after giving birth. The main purpose of Paid Family Leave is to give you, as the mom, time to bond with your baby.
When Do You Get Paid?
When do you get paid? You will get paid two to three weeks after filing your claim, assuming you filed the paperwork properly and submitted all the supporting documentation. A birth certificate, for example, stating that you have given birth on this date and that you are qualified for Paid Family Leave.
How long is paid Family Leave?
No matter your situation, Paid Family Leave is always going to be eight weeks. Your husband or spouse will also be eligible for eight weeks, they can file for paid family leave any time from the time you give birth to a year after you’ve given birth.
Example: Disability Pregnancy California
Now, let’s discuss an example. So, for simplicity’s sake, say my due date is on January 1st. If I were an average woman, I would start my disability claim four weeks prior, so around the first week of December. I would stop working, I would file my disability claim, and then I would give birth. Let’s just say exactly on January 1st. If I had a vaginal delivery, my disability claim would end the second week in February. If I had a cesarean, my disability would end about the fourth week of February. From that time the disability claim ended, I could then start paid family leave.
So, this day, I had a cesarean, and my disability claim ended at the end of February. So then, on March 1st, I would file for paid family leave, and I would get paid out for eight weeks of paid family leave, which would pay me out for about the full month of March and the full month of April. Once my Paid Family Leave ended, I would not be eligible for any more benefits.
Payout Calculation
Now, for the payout calculation, type in your previous wages or estimated wages. It will calculate based on your due date exactly what you should expect to make every week for both paid family leave and disability.