Having a Baby? Move to California

I realized recently I haven't posted anything about my maternity leave. I know you are all barely functioning with all of the suspense.  Let's start out by saying that if you are planning on having a baby you might as well just move to California because the maternity leave here is ah-mazing compared to other states, but sadly not really that impressive in the overall scheme of things.

In addition to the national Family & Medical Leave Act (FMLA) that protects your job (unpaid) for 12 weeks, California also has something called Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL), which covers up to four months for complication or disabilities related to pregnancy or childbirth.  In California you can ultimately take up to seven months off for maternity leave (assuming complications) and still get partial pay and be guaranteed to return to your job (or a similar job). The biggest bonus: FMLA/PDL leave in California is not unpaid; in most cases you are paid at least 55%-65% of your salary the entire time you are off.

In California maternity leave is split into three sections: before baby, recovery time and baby bonding time.  Luckily for us, this entire time off for these three sections is paid (assuming that you are working and paying into the state short term disability fund, which almost everyone does), not at 100%, but at least you're still getting something.

Before Baby
In California, State Disability allows you to leave work (paid) for up to four weeks before your scheduled due date.  If you don't use it you lose it.  Your money during this time comes directly from the state and it's not 100%, usually only 55%; you will find out the exact figure you will receive one to two weeks after sending in your disability form.

Recovery Time
You are entitled to six weeks of recovery time after having your baby.  The money for this section comes from a combination from the state (short term disability) and your employer.  After you have the baby you will receive a call from the State Disability Dept. to confirm details on the birth (whether it was a vaginal or a c-section delivery); disability pay will continue for six to eight weeks.  At the end of this time you will receive a form in the mail and if you are still in pain or having complications you can have your doctor sign on requesting that you remain on disability longer.

Bonding Time
When your disability runs out (six weeks for vaginal delivery, eight weeks for a c-section) you will get a letter from the Paid Family Leave (PFL) program, which allows you to continue getting the money you were getting on disability for up to six weeks to bond with your baby.  The great thing about this PFL section is that all six weeks don't need to be taken consecutively, the time just needs to be used within a year of giving birth.

So, now that the maternity leave lesson is over, on to the details of my maternity leave.  I plan on working right up until I have the baby, assuming I still feel good enough to do this.  I'm feeling great now so hopefully this will continue to be the case.  

After the birth I am going to take the six (or eight) weeks off for the recovery time, which will put me back to work around Thanksgiving (if I have her close to the due date).  

After that, for the next six weeks of bonding time, I will be splitting my time.  I will work Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays while Robert is at home with the baby and then I will be off on Thursdays and Fridays when he is at work.  This will put us allll the way to the end of March 2013 to when I will be going back to work the full five days a week. 

That's best case scenario for us because at this time Mila will enter childcare at six months, rather than at three.  I am lucky that Wells Fargo Advisors lets me split the maternity leave; not all companies allow it.

Robert will also be taking off four to six weeks as well, which is covered by his work (FMLA covers both spouses!) so it will be nice to have him around to help.

While California's maternity leave is better than all the other 49 states, it's still not as good as other countries in Europe.  Sweden, for example, provides working parents with 16 months paid leave per child, the cost being shared between the state and the employer.  16 months sounds a little excessive but I am still hoping the United States gets this in place by the time Baby #2 comes around :)