Pay and Benefits

Pay and Benefits During PDL

You are not required to pay an employee on PDL unless you pay for other temporary disability leaves for similarly situated employees.

Disability Insurance and PDL. An employee on PDL may be eligible for State Disability Insurance (SDI) benefits during the time she is disabled by pregnancy. SDI benefits are limited to the time the employee is actually disabled. They do not include payments during periods of baby bonding. For the purpose of SDI benefits, the usual disability period for a normal pregnancy is up to four weeks before the expected delivery date and up to six weeks after the delivery date. The physician may certify a longer period of disability if the delivery is by cesarean section, if medical complications exist or if the employee cannot perform her regular or customary job duties.

SDI, Workers’ Compensation and PDL. Though it is possible that a pregnant employee could suffer a work-related illness or injury that puts her health or that of her child in jeopardy, the employee would not receive payments from SDI and workers’ compensation concurrently. The employee’s health care provider determines if the employee is disabled by pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition, in which case she might be eligible for SDI payments.
Your workers’ compensation physician makes the determination as to whether the employee suffered a work-related illness or injury, in which case she is eligible for workers’ compensation payments.

Paid Family Leave (PFL) and PDL. PFL benefits are intended to compensate employees who must care for a family member or who want to bond with a new child. The employee on PDL would not be eligible for PFL benefits while disabled by pregnancy and receiving SDI. However, she could apply for up to six weeks of PFL benefits to bond with the new child after she is no longer disabled and after she is no longer receiving SDI. PFL is not a leave of absence. If an employee is eligible only for PDL, she will not be entitled to additional time off for baby bonding. You can implement a policy that provides additional time off for baby bonding, with or without guaranteeing job protection. Most California employees are eligible for SDI and PFL benefits.

Sick Leave and PDL. You can require, or the employee may choose to use accrued sick leave during the otherwise unpaid portion of PDL. You can also require or permit the use of sick leave benefits to supplement SDI benefits. In other words, you can integrate and coordinate the sick leave benefit with SDI as long as the employee does not receive more than 100 percent of her wages.

Vacation, Paid Time Off (PTO) and PDL. You cannot require the use of vacation or other accrued personal paid time off (PTO) for PDL. An employee can use vacation or PTO during her PDL, at her option.

Seniority and PDL. During PDL, the employee is entitled to accrual of seniority to the same extent and under the same conditions as would apply to any other unpaid leave not related to pregnancy. If your policy allows seniority to accrue when employees take paid leave, such as paid sick or vacation leave, and when employees take unpaid leave, then seniority accrues during any part of a paid and/or unpaid PDL, consistent with your policy. You cannot consider PDL a break in service. An employee must return from PDL with at least as much seniority (for purposes of layoff, recall, promotion, job assignment and seniority-related benefits, such as vacation) as she had when she began her leave.

Eligibility for Other Benefits. An employee on PDL is entitled to participate in the following, to the same extent and under the same conditions as would apply to any other unpaid disability leave granted by the employer for any reason other than a pregnancy disability:

Employee benefit plans, including life, short-term and long-term disability or accident insurance
Pension and retirement plans
Stock options
Supplemental unemployment benefit plans

Benefits After an Employee Returns from PDL. Benefits must be resumed upon the employee’s reinstatement in the same manner and at the same levels as provided when the leave began, without any new qualification period, physical exam, etc.

Benefits and PDL. An employer who currently pays for health insurance under a group health plan (medical, dental, vision) must continue to maintain a pregnant employee’s coverage under the plan as if she was actively working. Health benefits must be continued for the duration of the PDL (up to a maximum of four months in a 12 month period, beginning the date the leave begins). You may choose to maintain and pay for coverage for longer than four months. However, you should consult with your health care provider to ensure continued coverage is available under your plan(s). If the employer is a state agency, the collective bargaining agreement governs the continuation of health care under the employer’s group health plan.
You cannot use the time that you maintain and pay for group health coverage during PDL to meet your obligation to pay for 12 weeks of group health coverage during leave that is also CFRA. The employer must provide the coverage at the same level and under the same conditions that coverage would have been provided had the employee continued active employment. If the employee contributed to the group plan premium before taking PDL, she must continue to pay her portion while on leave. However, if you provide greater benefits for other temporary disability leaves, you must provide them for pregnancy leave to the same extent and for the same length of time.
At the time the leave begins, provide the employee with written notice as to which benefits you provide, and, if applicable, the amount the employee must pay for those benefits and how and when she must make those payments for her benefits to continue. If the employee normally pays a portion of the insurance premium, he/she should pay his/her share of the premium to you monthly by cash or check, because payroll deductions are not possible for an unpaid leave. Ask the employee to sign a notice acknowledging she will not continue receiving benefits if she does not make the payments for continued benefits.

Recovering Premiums. You can recover premiums that you already paid if both of the following conditions are met:

The employee fails to return from leave after the designated leave period expires; and
The employee’s failure to return from leave is for a reason other than one of the following:

The employee is taking leave under the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), unless the employee chooses not to return to work following the CFRA leave.
The continuation, recurrence or onset of a health condition entitles the employee to pregnancy disability leave, unless the employee chooses not to return to work following the leave.
Non-pregnancy related medical conditions require further leave, unless the employee chooses not to return to work following the leave.
Any circumstances beyond the control of the employee, including, but not limited to, circumstances where the employer is responsible for the employee’s failure to return (the employee is not returned to her same position or to a comparable position), or when the employee must care for herself or a family member (such as the employee gives birth to a child with a serious health condition).