A helpful guide for employers
and community counselors.
California Paid Family Leave
Helping
Californians
be there for
the moments
that matter.
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California Paid Family Leave (PFL) provides up to eight weeks of partial
wage replacement to eligible Californians who need time away from
work to:
• Care for a seriously ill child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent,
grandchild, sibling, spouse, or registered domestic partner.
• Bond with a new child entering the family by birth, adoption, or foster
care placement.
• Take part in a qualifying event because of a spouse, registered
domestic partner, parent, or child’s military deployment to a
foreign country, including arranging childcare or making nancial
arrangements.
This guide is designed to help you assist your employees and
customers in understanding and navigating the PFL program so they
can be present for the moments that matter most.
Who Pays for PFL?
California PFL is funded entirely by employees through State Disability
Insurance (SDI) deductions from their paychecks (noted as “CASDI” on
most paystubs). PFL is not a government welfare or aid program.
California Paid
Family Leave
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Bonding – A new parent must be
taking time off work to welcome a
new child into the family through birth,
adoption, or foster care placement.
Bonding benets must be taken
within 12 months of the child
entering the family.
A parent is dened as an individual,
spouse, or registered domestic
partner who will be serving as a
parent for the child.
Military Assist – An individual
must be taking time off work to take
part in a qualifying event resulting
from a spouse, registered domestic
partner, parent, or child’s military
deployment to a foreign country.
A qualifying event is any military
event or an essential need resulting
from a family member’s deployment
to a foreign country. For PFL, the
military event does not have to
occur in California. Qualifying
events include:
• Arranging for childcare or parental
care during the deployment.
• Assisting in making legal or
nancial arrangements during the
deployment.
• Attending counseling.
• Assisting the military member
during rest and recuperation leave.
• Attending military sponsored events
or ceremonies.
• Representing the military member
at federal, state, or local events.
• Addressing issues due to the
military member’s death.
Caregiving – An individual must
be taking time off work to care for a
seriously ill child, parent, parent-in-
law, grandparent, grandchild,
sibling, spouse, or registered
domestic partner.
PFL denes seriously ill as an illness,
injury, impairment, or physical or
mental condition that requires:
• At-home care or in-patient care in
a hospital, hospice, or residential
medical care facility.
• Continuing treatment by a licensed
health professional.
What Counts as a
Qualifying Event for PFL?
There are three life events that qualify for PFL – bonding, caregiving, and
participating in a qualifying military event.
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Does PFL Provide Job Protection?
PFL does not provide job protection, just paid benets. However, employees
may qualify for job protection through other laws that can be taken at the
same time as PFL. Employees should check with human resources about job
protection before applying for PFL.
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) – The FMLA is a federal law
that gives eligible employees 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave in a
12-month period to bond with a new child, to care for an ill family member, or
to participate in a qualifying military event. Visit the Department of Labor
(dol.gov/agencies/whd/fmla) to learn more.
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) – Similar to the FMLA, the
CFRA allows eligible employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected
leave in a 12-month period to bond with a new child or to care for a seriously
ill family member.
New Parent Leave Act (NPLA) – The NPLA provides eligible
employees 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave to bond with a new child
within one year of the child’s birth, adoption, or foster care placement. The law
covers individuals who work for small employers with 20 or more employees.
Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) – The FEHA does
not provide job protection during PFL but it does provide job protection
to individuals while they are using Disability Insurance (DI) for pregnancy
disability, childbirth, or a related medical condition. The law prohibits employer
discrimination due to disability or pregnancy.
To learn more about the CFRA, NPLA and FEHA,
visit the California Civil Rights Department (calcivilrights.ca.gov).
How does PFL Work?
California employees are eligible for
partial-wage-replacement benets
that can be taken all at once or split
over a 12-month period. To bond
with a new child, leave can be taken
anytime within the rst 12 months of a
child entering the family.
Example: After adopting a new child,
a parent may take two weeks of PFL
initially and then the remaining time
eight months later, should they need it.
What is Integration of
Wages with Benets?
PFL provides 60% to 70% of an
employee’s past salary. Employers
may allow employees to use vacation,
sick, paid time off, or other leave to
supplement their PFL benets to
receive 100% of their pay. Employees
can use the Disability Insurance and
PFL Calculator (edd.ca.gov/PFL_
Calculator) to estimate their
weekly benets.
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How Do PFL and DI Benets Work Together?
Caregiving
An employee receiving DI benets
due to a non-work-related injury or
illness may require care due to their
disability, and their family members
may be eligible to receive PFL
benets to take time away from work
to provide that care.
Bonding
A mother receiving DI benets due to
pregnancy or childbirth may transition
from her DI claim to a PFL bonding
claim and will automatically receive
a Claim for Paid Family Leave (PFL)
Benets - New Mother (DE 2501FP)
form when her pregnancy-related DI
claim ends.
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What Information Is
Needed to File?
• Name of the employer.
• Date they want their claim to begin.
This would be their rst day
of family leave.
• Wages paid (if any), and last day
of work.
• Claim specic supporting
documentation.
Bonding claims
• Documentation showing proof of
relationship with their child (birth
certicate, adoptive placement
agreement, or foster care
placement record).
Caregiving claims
• Medical certication showing that
the care recipient has a serious
health condition and requires care.
This must be completed by
a licensed health professional.
• Information about the person who
will be cared for and their signature.
Military assist claims
• Military assist certication.
• Supporting military documentation
(covered active duty orders, a
letter of impending call or order to
covered duty, or documentation
of military leave signed by the
approving authority for the military
member’s rest and recuperation).
• Documentation for the
qualifying event.
Where Can Employees
Apply for Benets?
1. Visit SDI Online
(edd.ca.gov/SDI_Online).
2. Register for a new SDI Online
account or sign in to an
existing account.
3. Select “New Claim”.
To Apply for Benets by Mail:
1. Complete a Claim for Paid Family
Leave (PFL) Benets (DE 2501F)
form (available in English and
Spanish.) To order a paper English
claim or to download the Spanish
form (DE 2501F/S), visit
EDD Forms and Publications
(edd.ca.gov/forms).
2. Submit the completed form with all
required documentation to EDD.
How Can Employees Apply for PFL?
They can apply online or by mail using a paper claim form. Claims should be
submitted no later than 41 days after individuals begin their family leave but not
before the rst day of leave.
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What Happens Next?
• A properly completed claim, including all supplemental documentation,
typically takes two weeks to be processed.
• We will mail a Notice of Computation (DE 429DF) confirming that we
received their claim and providing their estimated benefit amount.
• Individuals will know we approved their claim once they receive an
E
lectronic Benefit Payment (EBP) Notification (DE 2500E).
• The individual can choose their payment option when filling out their claim
form.
• If more information is needed or if the claim has been denied, we will
contact the individual.
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The EDD is an equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to
individuals with disabilities. Requests for services, aids, and/or alternate formats need to be made by calling
1-866-490-8879 (voice). TTY users, please call the California Relay Service at 711.
English .....................................1-877-238-4373
Spanish ...................................1-877-379-3819
Cantonese .............................. 1-866-692-5595
Vietnamese ............................ 1-866-692-5596
Armenian .................................1-866 -627-1567
Punjabi ....................................1-866- 627-1568
Tagalog ....................................1-866-627-1569
TTY ..........................................1-80 0-445 -1312
For more information, call or visit Contact SDI
(edd.ca.gov/Disability/Contact_SDI.htm)
for ofce locations.
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