Paid Family Leave (California)

California's Paid Family Leave (PFL) insurance program, which is also known as the Family Temporary Disability Insurance (FTDI) program, is a law enacted in 2002 that extends unemployment disability compensation to cover individuals who take time off work to care for a seriously ill family member or bond with a new minor child. Benefits equal approximately 55% of earnings and have a maximum per week.

The Paid Family Leave program is administered by the State Disability Insurance (SDI) program of the Employment Development Department.[1] Benefits commenced on July 1, 2004.

The statute states that PFL must be taken concurrently with leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA), both of which provide for twelve weeks of unpaid leave in a twelve-month period.

The PFL insurance program is fully funded by employees' contributions, similar to the SDI program.

History

In 2002, after an extended campaign by the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO [2] and the Work and Family Coalition led by the Labor Project for Working Families,[3] California was the first state to pass a law requiring the Paid Family Leave program;[4] however, in a 2007 survey of California adults, only 28.1% were aware of the program.[5] As of mid-2008, the only other states that had passed laws to offer paid family leave benefits were Washington and New Jersey.[6]

In 2009, five years after California's paid family leave law first went into effect, Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, a Democrat from the same state, introduced H.R. 2339, the Family Income Responding to Significant Transitions (FIRST) Act, which would provide federal grants to states with existing paid family leave laws to implement and administer their paid family leave programs, and would encourage other states to develop their own paid family leave programs.[7]

Provisions

In order to qualify for PFL, employees must participate in the State Disability Insurance (SDI) Program (or a voluntary plan in lieu of SDI).

PFL allows for up to six weeks of paid leave in a twelve-month period.

PFL covers employees who take time off to bond with their own child or their registered domestic partner's child, or a child placed for adoption or foster-care with them or their domestic partner. PFL covers employees who take time off to care for a seriously ill child, parent, spouse or domestic partner.

The employer may require employee to take up to two (2) weeks earned, but unused, vacation prior to the employee’s initial receipt of PFL benefits.

The size of the employer is a non-issue; employees working for small businesses with fewer than fifty employees fully qualify.

There is a seven-day waiting period before the employee may receive PFL benefits.

Eligibility expires one year from the minor child's date of birth, adoption, or foster care placement.

For PFL claims in 2010, weekly benefits range from $50 to $987. For 2012, the maximum weekly benefit is capped at $1011. For 2013, the maximum weekly benefit is capped at $1067. (http://www.edd.ca.gov/disability/PFL_Benefit_Amounts.htm). To qualify for the minimum weekly amount ($50), an individual must have at least $300 in wages in the base period. In 2012, to qualify for the maximum weekly benefit amount ($1011) an individual must earn at least $23,872.73 in a calendar quarter during the base period. The base period covers 12 months and is divided into four quarters of three months each. The wages paid approximately 5 to 17 months before the claim begins are included in the base period (they must be subject to the SDI tax).

Benefits equal approximately 55% of earnings up to the maximum, currently $1075 per week.(http://www.edd.ca.gov/pdf_pub_ctr/de2588.pdf)

Exclusions

Mothers-in-law and fathers-in-law are not included as care recipients. However, beginning on July 1, 2014, the law will be expanded to include time off to care for a seriously ill grandparent, grandchild, sibling, or parent-in-law.[8]

An employee may not receive PFL insurance benefits if he or she is also eligible for or already receiving State Disability Insurance, Unemployment Compensation Insurance, or Workers' Compensation.

An employer is not required to grant time off nor to hold a job for an employee unless the employer is covered by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA).

See also

References

  1. ↑ EDD. About the Paid Family Leave Insurance Program. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
  2. ↑ http://www.californialabor.org
  3. ↑ Netsy Firestein and Nicola Dones, "Unions Fight for Work and Family Policies--Not for Women Only," in The Sex of Class: Women Transforming American Labor ed. Dorothy Sue Cobble, pp. 140-154. Cornell University Press, 2007.
  4. ↑ Jones, Gregg. Davis to sign bill allowing paid family leave. Los Angeles Times, September 23, 2002.
  5. ↑ Milkman, Ruth. New data on paid family leave University of California at Los Angeles, January 2008. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
  6. ↑ Lu, Adrienne. Paid family leave now law in N.J. Philadelphia Inquirer, May 3, 2008. Retrieved July 21, 2008.
  7. ↑ http://www.paidfamilyleave.org/press/press_release_5th.pdf
  8. ↑ "Calif. SB 770".

External links