lol good luck. i swear they make this stuff complicated on purpose 🤡

For anyone still struggling with this, I found that calling early in the morning (like 8 AM sharp) gives you the best chance of getting through without waiting forever. Also, make sure you have your Social Security number, employment history for the past 18 months, and any documentation about your family member's condition ready before you call. The representatives are actually pretty helpful once you get through - they can walk you through the calculation and give you a realistic timeline based on your specific situation.

guys i just got my payment date! keep checking ur accounts, it might update soon

Same exact situation here! Filed about 2 weeks ago, got the "processed" status last Friday, but still no payment date. It's driving me crazy refreshing the page every few hours hoping something changes. At least seeing the benefit amounts calculated gives me some hope that it's moving forward. Thanks for posting this - makes me feel less alone in this mess!

Yes, you can split up your PFL baby bonding time! You have 12 months from your baby's birth to use all 8 weeks. You can take it in increments as small as 1 day if your employer approves. Just remember that each time you want to claim a new portion of your PFL, you need to submit a new claim form for that specific period. Many parents save some PFL time for holidays or when their partner goes back to work. The only requirement is that you take it within that first year.

Just wanted to add my experience from going through this transition last month! I filed my PFL claim exactly 7 days before my SDI ended (following the advice I found here actually), and the transition was seamless - no gap in payments at all. One tip that really helped me: when you're filling out the PFL application online, there's a section that asks about "previous claims" - make sure to reference your SDI claim number there. It seems to help EDD connect the two claims faster. Also, don't panic if your EDD account looks weird for a day or two during the transition - mine showed confusing status updates but the payments came through on schedule. The whole process was way less scary than I expected after reading everyone's horror stories!

when i had my baby i got so stressed about all the edd paperwork that i almost gave myself pre-term labor lol! just take it one step at a time. edd stuff is confusing for everyone. also make sure your doctor fills out their part of the forms completely or it'll delay everything (learned that the hard way). good luck with your baby journey! ❤️

Hey Jayden! I just went through this exact situation a few months ago and wanted to share my experience to hopefully ease some of your stress. I had a PUA overpayment from 2020 (also applied when they told everyone to apply first and figure out eligibility later 🙄) and was terrified it would affect my maternity benefits. Here's what actually happened: My pregnancy disability (SDI) payments were completely untouched - got 100% of what I was entitled to. However, when I transitioned to PFL for baby bonding, they did withhold about 15% from each payment toward my overpayment. It wasn't ideal, but honestly getting 85% of my PFL was still a huge help during those first bonding weeks. The key thing that helped me was being proactive. I called EDD (used a callback service similar to what Ethan mentioned) and got confirmation in writing about what to expect. They were actually pretty understanding about the whole COVID application mess since so many people are in similar situations. One tip: if you haven't already, request a hardship waiver for your overpayment. Even if they don't approve it fully, they might reduce the garnishment percentage from your PFL. Worth a shot! You're going to be okay mama - even in a worst-case scenario, you'll still get most of your benefits when you need them most. ❤️

Quick update on your question about which pays more - to be super clear, both SDI (disability) and PFL (baby bonding) use the exact same calculation: - If you earn less than 1/3 of the state average quarterly wage, you get 70% of your wages - If you earn more than 1/3 of the state average quarterly wage, you get 60% of your wages So there is absolutely no financial benefit to staying on disability versus moving to PFL. The priority should be making sure there's no gap between the two benefits, which unfortunately requires speaking with an EDD representative.

I went through this exact same nightmare 6 months ago! Here's what finally worked for me: Call EDD at 8am SHARP when they open (1-800-480-3287). Don't hang up even if you get the busy message - keep hitting redial. I literally called 47 times one morning before getting through. When you do reach someone, have both your SDI claim number and your PFL claim number ready. Tell them you need to "coordinate the transition between disability and family leave claims" - use those exact words because it triggers them to look at both claims together. The rep will be able to see that your disability should have ended and your PFL should have started, and they can manually process the transition. Mine was fixed within 24 hours after that call. Also, definitely ask them to backdate your PFL start date so there's no gap in payments. And yes, both pay the exact same amount - I was getting $1,180/week on both disability and baby bonding. Hang in there! The system is broken but once you get a human on the phone, they can actually fix it pretty quickly.