To answer your follow-up question about employer verification - EDD does contact the employer directly, but sometimes employers don't respond promptly. Your husband can call his HR department to verify they received and responded to EDD's request. This is often the biggest cause of delays with PFL claims.

Update: Just wanted to let everyone know that my husband's claim was FINALLY approved yesterday (so it took exactly 22 days). The status changed to approved on his EDD account, and we got an email notification too. Thanks for all the helpful advice! Now we're just waiting for the payment to come through.

Update us if you manage to get through! I'm curious if that Claimyr service actually works as well as some people say. It would be nice to have a reliable way to reach EDD when necessary.

UPDATE: I finally got through to EDD! I tried calling right at 8AM as suggested but still couldn't get through after 7 attempts. So I used the Claimyr service mentioned above and got connected to a representative in about 25 minutes. Turns out my claim was flagged because my employer accidentally listed my return-to-work date incorrectly (they put the date I started leave instead of the date I'm returning). The EDD agent fixed it immediately and said my payments should be processed within 3-5 business days for the full 8 weeks. Thanks everyone for your help and suggestions! If anyone else is stuck in PFL limbo, definitely try either calling right when they open or use a service to get through if you're desperate like I was.

just wondering how ur pregnancy leave was? i'm due in 3 months and nervous about the whole process. was the mail claim easy? did u have any complications with payment?

btw dont freak out if theres a few days gap between SDI ending and PFL starting! mine took 5 days to process so there was like a week with no payment then they did back pay

To answer your question about splitting the 8 weeks - yes, you can! Under PFL baby bonding, you can break up your 8 weeks however you want, but EDD requires each segment to be at least 1 week long. So you could do 4 weeks in July and 4 weeks in September, or even 2-2-2-2 spread out over different months within the first year after birth. Just know that each time you start a new segment, you'll need to file additional certification paperwork.

btw my quarterly payments were around $250 based on my income and I got about $1300/wk when I took the time off. totally worth it!! and yea I took my time when baby was 5mo and EDD didn't care at all

HEADS UP!!! I tried doing EXACTLY what you're planning and it was a NIGHTMARE!!! EDD is impossible to deal with for unusual situations like this. They denied my initial claim saying I wasn't available for work since I was planning to move, even though it was for my husband's job (not military tho). I appealed and eventually won but it took FOUR MONTHS to get any money!!! By then we had already moved and I had found a job in our new state. The system is BROKEN!!!! 😡😡😡

I work with military families on benefits issues, and I want to clarify a few things: 1. You are absolutely eligible for UI after SDI ends, and the military spouse provision applies to your situation. 2. Document everything! Keep a record of all communications with EDD. 3. If possible, begin your job search before your SDI ends - this strengthens your case that you're actively seeking employment. 4. Once in Virginia, you'll need to register with their workforce agency (Virginia Employment Commission) within a week of arrival, but continue to certify through California. 5. Your UI claim will be based on your California base period wages, regardless of your move. The key is proper documentation and timing. File your UI claim immediately after SDI ends, not before or with a gap. And despite what others have said, the system generally works correctly for military spouses - it just requires careful attention to the application details.