Pregnancy Disability Leave
In California, managers with at least five or more employees are required to give pregnancy inability leave under the state’s Pregnancy Disability Leave Act. Pregnant employees may take up to four months of leave throughout any timeframe during which they can’t work because of pregnancy, labor, or a related medical condition.
How Much Time Are You Able To Take Off?
Pregnant employees may take up to four months of leave throughout the time that they are really disabled by pregnancy or a pregnancy-related condition. This time might be taken earlier or after the birth of a baby and incorporates time off for extreme morning ill, unavoidable medical bed rest, labor, and recuperation from labor and any pregnancy-related situation.
The correct measure of time you are able to call off due to pregnancy relies on each employee’s situation. Be that as it may, workers with “typical” pregnancies and deliveries are for the most part thought to be disabled for up to a month before conceiving a child and up to a month and a half after giving birth. This is additionally the timeframe for which California’s State Disability Insurance (SDI) program will ordinarily pay inability advantages to pregnant employees.
Will You Be Paid During Leave?
Employers are not required to pay employees throughout pregnancy disability leave. Nevertheless, an employee may utilize collected paid leave throughout this time, for example, vacations, sick leave, or paid time off (PTO). Managers can require pregnant employees to utilize their sick leave (but not accrued vacation or PTO) throughout their pregnancy take off.
Pregnant workers may apply for disability benefits through the California State Disability Insurance program. A representative with a pregnancy-related disability may get a part of her wages throughout her leave, normally running from $50 to $1,104 every week.
How To Request A Leave
In the event that you require time off for pregnancy disability leave, you may make a verbal or composed request to your manager. At whatever point possible, this request ought to be made no less than 30 days before the leave is to start. In case you can’t give a 30 days’ notice due to a crisis or surprising change in your condition, you should notify the employer as soon as possible.
On the off chance that your boss requires a doctor’s certification for other different sorts of disability leaves, you might be required to give a similar certification for your pregnancy disability leave. The doctors certification ought to be in writing and should have the following information on it:
- the date on which you ended up disabled
- the expected length of the disability
- an explanation that you can’t work because of a pregnancy-related disability.
California Family Rights Act
The California Family Rights Act (CFRA) requires businesses with at least 50 employees (“secured employees”) to give qualified employees time off for certain family and medical reasons. Among different reasons, workers may take leave under CFRA for a genuine medical condition or to bond with a newborn child. Leave under this Act is unpaid unless the employee meets all requirements for paid leave through a state program or organization policy.
To be entitled for the CFRA leave, a employee must have worked for a covered employer for at least 12 months and also have worked at minimum of 1,250 hours in the 12 months immediately preceding the leave.
Serious Medical Condition
In the event that a pregnant employee encounters a genuine medical condition that is correlated with her pregnancy, she is qualified for up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave under the California Family Rights Act. Such leave runs simultaneously with leave taken under the California Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) Act. Simply put, a pregnant employee would not be qualified for four month off under the PDL and an additional 12 weeks off under CFRA for medical complications arising out of pregnancy or childbirth.
Bonding Leave
Under the California Family Rights Act, qualified employees may take up to 12 weeks of leave to bond with a newborn. Despite the fact that the leave is unpaid under CFRA, workers might be qualified for paid leave under their employers’ policy or through the California Paid Family Leave Act. While the Paid Family Leave Act does not itself give a worker the privilege to take leave, it provides employees who are generally qualified for leave with partial wage payments throughout the leave. Under the Act, a parent may get up to 55% of her week by week wage for up to a month and a half while on bonding leave.
Bonding leave does not run simultaneously with pregnancy disability leave. On the off chance that a pregnant employee is really disabled by pregnancy or delivery for the full four months permitted by the California Pregnancy Disability Leave Act, she can take 12 weeks of bonding leave. This implies she can take up to seven months off altogether.
Companies Policy
Although not required by law, a few businesses offer pregnancy and maternity or paternity leave to their employees. A few employers even offer paid leave for these reasons. Make certain to check your worker handbook or other organization policies to seek out what your company offers.
When Returning To Work
Usually, a employer must give back a pregnant employee the same position she held before taking leave for pregnancy disability or bonding with a newborn. In any case, a employer may restore the returning worker to an equivalent position (that is, one that is basically indistinguishable) if the first position was eliminated for valid business reasons.
The main special cases where an employer would not be required to give back the employee a practically identical position are the where:
- the business can show that the employee would not have been offered the identical position had the worker stayed and constantly had kept working
- no equivalent position for which the employee is qualified for is currently available.
Denial of Leave May Be Discrimination
On the off chance that your employer denies you pregnancy leave for which you are qualified for, your manager might be discriminating against you. In the event that you have inquiries/questions regarding pregnancy discrimination, contact the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Its site likewise has answers to commonly asked questions about pregnancy leave rights and discrimination. If you believe your employer has discriminated against you due to your pregnancy or need for leave, feel free to reach out to us to help assert your rights.