California Pregnancy Disability Leave (CA PDL)

You can take up to 4 months job protected time off due to medical conditions related to pregnancy as long as you work for an employer with 5 or more employees. This leave can be taken in small increments (hours, days, weeks, months).

During this leave you are entitled to your health benefits.  

There is no job protection (See FMLA for that), but you do have job protection.

You have to give notice to your employer when you want to take leave. If the leave is foreseeable a 30 days notice, if not, as soon as possible.

An employer may require medical certification. 

PDL is paid leave if you pay into the State Disability Insurance (SDI). 

The insurance provides a tax free replacement of income of 55% of an employee's average weekly pay, up to a maximum weekly benefit cap, which was $1076 per week in 2013.  

January 1, 2018, workers will be entitled to an increase from the current amount of 55 percent of their benefits under the state's Paid Family Leave or State Disability Insurance programs to either 60 or 70 percent, depending on the worker's income. People earning close to minimum wage to be paid 70% of their salary while on leave, while workers with higher pay, up to $108,000 annually, will get 60% of their salary during leave. 

SDI is funded through small employee payroll deductions - 1.0%.contribution rate in 2013. 

More information: www.dfeh.ca.gov - Lexology 

California Family Rights Act (CFRA)

This provides 12 additional weeks of unpaid, but job protected leave for baby bonding. This leave can overlap with the FMLA - once a doctor declared you to go back to work, CFRA takes over. This means that you most likely will not get 24weeks of job protection, but a few weeks less.

More information: www.dfeh.ca.gov

California Paid Family Leave (CP PFL)

This paid leave gives both parents 6 weeks of paid leave up to 55% of your salary (same max. as CA PDL see above). There is no job protection, but you can take this leave together with FMLA or CFRA.

January 1, 2018, workers will be entitled to an increase from the current amount of 55 percent of their benefits under the state's Paid Family Leave or State Disability Insurance programs to either 60 or 70 percent, depending on the worker's income. People earning close to minimum wage to be paid 70% of their salary while on leave, while workers with higher pay, up to $108,000 annually, will get 60% of their salary during leave. 

More information: www.edd.ca.gov

Update: 09-2016

Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI)

This is paid leave if you have at least least 14 weeks of Hawaii employment during each of which you were paid for 20 hours or more and earned not less than $400 in the 52 weeks preceding the first day of disability.  The 14 weeks need not be consecutive nor with only one employer.  You must also be in current employment to be eligible. 

It is your employer's plan that determines how much benefit you will receive, how long you will be paid and whether you have to serve a waiting period.

If your employer has a statutory plan, i.e. a plan that provides benefits according to minimum benefit standards, you are entitled to:

• Cash benefits of 58% of your average weekly wages rounded to the next higher dollar, but not more than the maximum weekly benefit amount annually set by the Disability Compensation Division. 
• Benefits from the eighth day of disability; in other words, there is a seven-consecutive-day waiting period.
• A maximum of 26 weeks of benefit payments during a benefit year.

If your employer has a sick leave plan which differs from statutory benefits and has been approved by Disability Compensation Division as an equivalent or better-than-statutory plan, your weekly benefit amount, duration of payments, and whether or not a waiting period is required will be determined by the plan. Ask your employer for details of the plan.

TDI benefits paid or payable to you are solely to partially replace the wage loss resulting from your inability to work. 

To file for a TDI claim, you should follow the procedures described below:

• Notify your employer immediately of your disability. 
• Ask for Form TDI-45, Claim for TDI Benefits, from your employer or at the Division. To avoid partial or complete loss of benefits, file your claim within 90 days.
• Complete Part A, Claimant's Statement, of the claim form.
• Take the form to your physician to certify your disability on Part C, Doctor's Statement.
• Have your employer complete Part B, Employer's Statement.
• Mail the form to your employer's TDI insurance company if your employer is not self-insured.
• Your employer or the insurance carrier will notify you of your entitlement to benefits.

You are not eligible for TDI  if you work for the federal government, do certain domestic work, or if you are a student nurse, an intern, or insurance agent or real estate person paid solely on commission basis, or if you are under 18 years of age in the delivery or distribution of newspapers, or if you are a worker in another category specifically excluded by law.

Hawaii Family Leave

The Hawaii Family Leave Law provides four weeks of protected pair or unpaid leave for the mother or father to care for the child. Read more about the Hawaii Family Leave Law.

Pregnancy Discrimination at the Workplace

An employer can not discriminate against you because you are pregnant.  For details, see the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission's flyer regarding Pregnancy Discrimination in the Workplace. 

The Massachusetts Maternity Leave Act is replaced by the Parental Leave Act (PLA), effective April 7, 2015

Leave
The Parental Leave Act provides eight weeks of unpaid leave - although employers may provide paid leave - for both men and women when:

• giving birth,
• adoption of a child under 18, or 23 when the child is disabled
• placement of a child under court order
  
  If a woman is experiencing pregnancy-related complications and is placed on bed rest for the last eight weeks of her pregnancy, this time off from work is not covered or protected by the PLA.  
  
  If you and your spouse are working for the same employer there are limits to the availability of leave, any two of you are entitled to eight weeks of leave.
   

You are eligible if you:

• worked at least three consecutive months for the same employer as a full-time employee
• work for a covered employer - with six or more employees in Massachusetts

Determine if you have access to state-provided benefits. California, Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico mandate STD benefits, which typically cover half to two thirds of your salary. Find the benefits of California and New Jersey below - more states to come.

New Jersey Temporary Disability Insurance

This is paid leave if you if you work for a New Jersey covered employer.

The average weekly wage is generally based on the earnings in the 8 calendar weeks immediately before the week in which the disability begins. The total wages earned during all base weeks worked in the eight week period are divided by the number of such base weeks to obtain the average weekly wage. Each claimant is paid two-thirds (2/3) of his/her average weekly wage up to the maximum amount payable set for that calendar year. The maximum weekly benefit rate is $584 for disabilities beginning on or after January 1, 2013 -  $595 for disabilities beginning on or after January 1, 2014.

For a normal pregnancy, benefits are usually payable for up to 4 weeks before the expected delivery date and up to six 6 weeks after the actual delivery date (provided that you have not worked during that time.  A doctor may certify that you are disabled for a longer period if:

• You experience specific complications related to pregnancy.
• You undergo a Cesarean section.
• You have another simultaneous disability.
• You are physically unable to do your regular job.

There is no job protection (See FMLA for that).

New Jersey Family Leave Act 

This gives both parents up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave during a given 24-month period, without losing their jobs.

New Jersey Family Building Act 

This provides coverage for infertility treatments, so you don't have to take on significant debt before facing maternity leave with partial pay and job security.