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Employers with five or more employees are covered by California’s pregnancy disability leave (PDL) law and the California Family Rights Act (CFRA). Employers with 50 or more employees may also need to comply with the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
PDL is time off for an employee who is disabled by pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition; PDL is separate from any child bonding leave that might be available to an employee under federal and state family and medical leave laws, the CFRA and FMLA.
Visit the HR Library’s PDL section for complete, updated information on administering PDL.The employee must give you verbal or written notice of the need for PDL, when it will start and approximately how long it will last. She must provide 30 days’ notice whenever the need for PDL is foreseeable. If 30 days’ advance notice is not possible, notice should be given as soon as practicable.
You must respond to a request for PDL as soon as possible, but no later than 10 calendar days after receiving the request:
You must post a copy of the Pregnancy Disability Leave Notice (“Your Rights and Obligations as a Pregnant Employee”) in your workplace. You must also give the employee a copy of the PDL notice as soon as practicable after the employee tells you of her pregnancy, or sooner if the employee inquires about reasonable accommodation, transfer or pregnancy disability leaves.
You must also post the California Family Rights Act Notice (“Family Care and Medical Leave (CFRA Leave) and Pregnancy Disability Leave”) and, if you employ 50 or more employees, the federal Family and Medical Leave Act poster (“Employee Rights and Responsibilities Under the Family and Medical Leave Act”) as well.
You can require medical certification as a condition of granting PDL. You must advise the employee of all of the following:
Use the Certification of Health Care Provider for Pregnancy Disability Leave, Transfer or Reasonable Accommodation.
An employee disabled by pregnancy can take up to four months of leave (17 and 1/3 weeks) per pregnancy. The leave does not need to be used as one block of time. A pregnant employee can take PDL intermittently; for example, she can take PDL for morning sickness early in the pregnancy and then take PDL later if she is disabled by pregnancy when the child is born. An employee who remains disabled at the end of four months of PDL may be entitled to further leave as a reasonable accommodation.
You are not required to pay an employee who is on PDL unless you pay for other temporary disability leaves for similarly situated employees. An employee on PDL may be eligible for State Disability Insurance (SDI) benefits during the time she is disabled by pregnancy.
You are required to continue the employee’s health benefits while on PDL if you currently pay for health insurance under a group health plan (medical, dental or vision). You must maintain a pregnant employee’s coverage under the plan as if she was actively working. Health benefits must be continued for the duration of the PDL, not to exceed four months over the course of a 12-month period for each pregnancy. (This is separate from any obligation under CFRA.)
When you grant an employee’s request for PDL, you must reinstate the employee to the same position, except under certain limited conditions. This guarantee must be put in writing if the employee requests a written guarantee.