In a little over a month, I'll be virtually waving good-bye to my coworkers as I begin my extended maternity leave. With my boss's blessing, I've been approved for a 6-month leave. Some of it paid, some of it not. After attending a 2-hour seminar offered by our Human Resources department and then a couple more hours calculating what that all meant for me, I feel compelled to share what I know. But before I do, read the disclaimers at the bottom of this post.
Now that we got that out of the way, there are four different types of leave available in California. Some have pay, some don't. Some have job protection, some don't. You will literally have to piece-meal your maternity leave together to get time off with pay and with job protection.
Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
This is a federal act that offers up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave in a rolling 12 months. It is unpaid. But it offers job protection. This is open for both mothers and fathers.
California Pregnancy Disability Leave (CA PDL)
This is PAID leave (as long as you've paid into the State Disability Insurance) in Calfornia under the state disability plan for up to 4 months. You get paid up to 55% of your salary up up a weekly maximum benefit cap (for 2010, that's $987/week). Generally, pregnant moms are entitled to FOUR weeks prior to your due date and SIX weeks after the baby is born (EIGHT if you deliver by c-section). There is no job protection, but you take this paid leave in conjunction with your FMLA. Your doctor determines when you are disabled and when you are cleared back to work. If you are having twins, the timelines increase so double check with your HR rep or the EDD for more info.
California Family Rights Act (CFRA)
This provides an additional 12 weeks of unpaid, but job-protected leave for baby bonding. One big caveat, my fellow pregnant Californians: this leave can overlap with FMLA. Once your doctor has cleared you to go back to work (generally 6-8 weeks post partum), CFRA kicks in. This means that you may not get 24 weeks of job-protection. Depending on how much time you take off before the baby is born, when the baby is born, and the type of delivery, you may get a few weeks less of job-protected leave.
California Paid Family Leave (CA PFL)
This paid leave gives both mother and fathers (and adoptive parents) SIX weeks of paid leave up to 55% of your salary (with a maximum cap). Again, there is no job protection, but you can take this leave in conjunction with FMLA or CFRA.
So what does this mean for you and your maternity leave?
Let's face it, we all just want to know how long we can be out on maternity leave and still get paid for it. In a nut shell, you can take off 4 weeks before you due date and have 6-8 weeks of after the baby is born under CA PDL. Then tack on an additional 6 weeks under CA PFL. That's roughly 16 weeks of paid leave with job protection if you use the full benefit and assuming there are no complications in your pregnancy or delivery.
Still confused about how to calculate your maternity leave?
I'll use my own maternity plan to describe it further. My due date is October 31, 2010. Since I work from home, I only plan on going out on maternity leave one week prior to my due date (unless my doctor tells me otherwise between now and then). I already have an approved return date of May 2, 2011. That's just a tad over 6 months of leave.
My last day of work will be Friday, October 22nd. Therefore my leave begins on Saturday, October 23rd. This marks Day 1 of FMLA and CA PDL.
If Thing Two is born on time and without complications, I will be paid for 7 weeks at $987 per week (1 week before and 6 weeks after). At that time, my doctor will clear me for work. CFRA will then kick in (overlapping with FMLA for 5 weeks) and I will apply for an additional 6 weeks of pay at $987 per week under CA PFL.
That's 13 weeks of paid job-protected leave, if you are following along. Or roughly, $12,831 for 3 months of leave.
I still have an additional 7 weeks of unpaid but job-protected leave under CFRA for baby bonding. After that, I plan on using my accrued vacation time for 2 weeks. While I'm on "vacation," I will apply for a 5-week unpaid Leave of Absence. Those 5 weeks are without job protection, so I'm taking a risk. But I think the risk is small of getting laid off during those 5 weeks.
To sum it up, that's 13-weeks of paid job-protected leave, 7-weeks of unpaid but protected leave, 2-weeks of vacation time, and a 5-week unpaid, un-protected LoA. That's still just $12,831 for a 6-month maternity leave, plus my two weeks of vacation time. Motherhood certainly doesn't pay.
And you thought the delivery was going to be the tough part.
I hope this helps you as you guide through your own planning for maternity leave. Congrats and good luck!
The Disclaimers
First, let me say that it absolutely, completely, utterly sucks balls that the most powerful country in the world doesn't offer a federal paid maternity leave. With roughly the same number of men and women now in the workforce, it's really a shame that we don't offer paid leave for working parents (Obama, why don't you add that to your stimulus package?). I'm fortunate to live in California where paid pregnancy disability and paid family leave are offered. What I'm about to share is based on living and working in California.
Second, I work for one of the largest software companies in the world. I do not work for a small business or the government - different rules apply for companies with less than 50 employees and government employees (that includes teachers).
Third, by no means am I an expert on maternity leave in California. I'm just passing on what I learned. Call it tribal knowledge, but don't call it the source of truth. You're going to have to do some homework of your own.
