Can my employer supplement my EDD maternity leave pay to reach 100% of salary?

Yes, your employer absolutely CAN supplement your EDD payments during maternity leave! This is called wage replacement or salary continuation, and it's completely legal. The State Disability Insurance (SDI) and Paid Family Leave (PFL) programs pay approximately 60-70% of your wages up to the maximum weekly benefit amount ($1,620 in 2025). Your employer can pay the difference to get you to 100% without affecting your EDD benefits.\n\nMany larger companies offer this as part of their benefits package. The SDI/PFL payments come from the state, while the supplemental portion comes directly from your employer. They're separate programs and don't affect each other.\n\nMake sure to get the policy in writing before your leave starts. Also check if your company requires you to use any accrued PTO first before they provide supplemental pay.

Thank you!!! This is so helpful. I was worried that if my employer paid me anything during leave, it would reduce my EDD benefits. When I asked HR, they seemed unsure and said they'd need to \

my company does this!!! they pay the extra 30% so we get full salary during materntiy leave. didnt affect my EDD payments at all! just make sure ur HR knows what theyre doing with the paperwork. mine messed up and accidently reported my employer supplement as regular wages to EDD and it was a NIGHTMARE to fix. took like 3 weeks of phone calls.

Omg thank you for this warning! That's exactly the kind of thing I'm worried about. I'll make sure to ask specifically how they'll be coding the supplemental pay. My HR dept is pretty small and they admitted they've never done this before.

This is called \

Thank you for breaking this down so clearly! That's super helpful. I didn't even think about making sure the policy would apply to both the pregnancy disability and baby bonding portions. I'll definitely ask about that. We don't have a separate short-term disability policy, just the CA state benefits.

Wish I knew this 2 years ago! My company never mentioned they could do this and I was struggling on 60% of my income. Definitely get everything in writing and confirm how long they'll supplement. Some only do it for part of your leave.

same! i only found out cuz a coworker told me. hr never volunteered the info!!! had to specifically ASK for it

I tried calling EDD to confirm this policy before my maternity leave last year and was on hold FOREVER. I finally used Claimyr.com to get through to an agent quickly (they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/DOLxZQb92wM?si=6N1iCQ3a8Cdb2Ay5). The EDD rep confirmed that employer supplemental pay doesn't affect your disability or PFL benefits at all.\n\nJust make sure your employer knows how to properly document this. Mine initially tried to submit it as regular wages to EDD which would have reduced my benefits. It needs to be marked specifically as supplemental pay during leave.

This is exactly what I was hoping to do - call EDD to confirm! I'll check out that service since I've tried calling a few times already with no luck. Did the EDD agent give you any specific terminology I should tell my HR department to use when documenting the supplemental pay?

The EDD agent said it should be coded as \

Wait this doesn't sound right to me?? When I was on mat leave in 2023, my HR told me any money from my employer would count against my EDD payments. If you get 70% from EDD and 30% from work, you'd still only get 70% total not 100%. Are we talking about the same thing??

Your HR department was mistaken. California specifically allows employers to supplement SDI and PFL benefits without affecting benefit amounts. It's a very common practice called wage replacement or salary continuation. The key is that your employer must code it correctly as supplemental pay during leave, not as regular wages. If they reported it as regular wages, that would reduce your benefits, which might be why your HR department was confused.

Are you serious?! I took a huge financial hit during my maternity leave because of this misinformation! Is there any way to get reimbursed retroactively? This makes me so angry.

I just went through this process last month! The part everyone is missing is that if your employer offers any type of SHORT-TERM DISABILITY insurance (different from CA SDI), that CAN affect your state benefits. But direct supplemental pay from your employer to

This is an excellent point about the payback arrangements. These are called

I had no idea about the possibility of having to pay back the state benefits! That definitely changes things. I'll specifically ask if they're planning an integrated plan or true supplemental pay. Thank you both for this critical info.

I work in HR and manage leave policies. Yes, employers can supplement SDI and PFL payments without affecting state benefits. This is completely legal and fairly common practice. We call it

This is insanely helpful - like a checklist of exactly what to ask HR! I hadn't considered the possibility of them only offering supplemental pay for part of my leave. Since I'm taking the full 4 weeks before birth, 8 weeks recovery after (c-section planned), and 8 weeks baby bonding, that would be really important to know. Thank you!

Just want to add another perspective as someone who went through this recently! My employer was initially hesitant about offering supplemental pay because they were worried about compliance issues. What helped was when I brought them documentation from the CA Employment Development Department website that explicitly states employers can provide wage replacement during disability leave without affecting benefits. I'd recommend printing out the relevant sections from the EDD website to show your HR team - it really helped legitimize my request. Also, consider asking if they'd be willing to do a trial run with just the pregnancy disability portion first (those 4 weeks before birth) to see how the process works before committing to supplementing the full 20 weeks of leave. One more tip: if your company uses a payroll service like ADP or Paychex, those companies usually have templates and processes already set up for this kind of supplemental pay arrangement. Might be worth having your HR contact them directly for guidance!

This thread has been incredibly helpful! I'm in a similar situation with my due date coming up in June. One thing I wanted to add that I learned from my benefits coordinator - if your company has never done this before, you might want to ask them to put together a written policy document even if it's just for your case. My HR initially said they'd "figure it out as we go" but I pushed for something in writing that outlined exactly what percentage they'd supplement, for how many weeks, and how it would be coded on paystubs. This ended up being super important because there was turnover in HR while I was on leave and the new person had no idea what had been agreed to! Also, for anyone reading this thread later - I found the CA EDD website has a specific section for employers about supplemental benefits under their "Employer Resources" tab. It's not easy to find but it's there and has examples of how to properly report this type of payment. Might be worth bookmarking that page to share with your HR team!

As someone who just went through this exact situation last year, I can confirm that employer supplemental pay is absolutely allowed and won't affect your EDD benefits! The key thing that saved me a lot of stress was creating a simple timeline document for HR that outlined exactly when each type of payment would kick in. Here's what worked for me: I mapped out my 4 weeks pregnancy disability (SDI), 6-8 weeks recovery (SDI), and then 8 weeks baby bonding (PFL), along with when I expected each EDD payment to start. This helped HR understand that they'd need to coordinate their supplemental payments with potentially delayed state payments. One heads up - my first SDI payment was delayed by about 3 weeks due to paperwork processing, so having my employer's supplemental pay start immediately was crucial for covering my bills. Make sure your company understands they might need to front the money while waiting for state benefits to kick in. Also, double-check if your company's policy includes coverage for any unpaid waiting periods. California has a 7-day waiting period for disability benefits that isn't covered by SDI, and some employers will cover that gap too. Mine did and it made a huge difference! Getting this set up properly was one of the best decisions I made during my maternity leave planning. Good luck with your April baby!

This entire thread has been a goldmine of information! I'm due in May and was also stressing about the financial aspect of maternity leave. Reading everyone's experiences has given me so much confidence to approach my HR department about supplemental pay. I love all the practical tips here - especially creating a written policy document, getting the timeline mapped out, and making sure the payments are coded correctly. The warning about HR turnover during leave is something I never would have thought of but makes total sense. One thing I'm curious about - for those who successfully got their employers to offer supplemental pay, how did you initially bring it up? Did you frame it as a request, or more as "hey, I found out this is something companies can do legally"? My company is pretty small (about 50 employees) and I don't think they've ever had anyone ask about this before. I want to approach it in a way that makes it easy for them to say yes rather than feeling like I'm demanding something unreasonable. Also, has anyone dealt with a situation where the company initially said no but then changed their mind? I'm wondering if there are good talking points about employee retention or recruitment benefits that might help make the business case. Thank you all for sharing your experiences - this community is amazing! 💕

This thread is incredibly thorough and helpful! I'm also expecting (due in July) and had no idea employer supplemental pay was even a possibility. My company's HR person mentioned that maternity leave would be "whatever EDD pays" and I just accepted that as the final word. After reading all these experiences, I'm realizing I should definitely have this conversation with my employer. We're a mid-size company (about 150 employees) and I know they've had other people take maternity leave, but I wonder if anyone has ever asked about supplemental pay. One question for the group - has anyone had success with this at companies that already have a formal maternity leave policy in place? I'm wondering if having existing policies makes them more or less likely to consider adding supplemental pay. On one hand, they might be more structured about benefits, but on the other hand, they might feel like their current policy is already "complete." Also, @Anastasia Sokolov mentioned working in HR - do you have any advice on timing for this conversation? I'm about 20 weeks along now. Is it better to bring this up sooner rather than later to give them time to research and set up processes? Thank you everyone for sharing so much detail about your experiences. This community has been more helpful than any official resource I've found!

This thread is amazing! I'm currently 16 weeks pregnant and had been dreading the financial stress of maternity leave. I honestly had no idea that employer supplemental pay was even legal - I thought any additional income would automatically reduce EDD benefits. Reading through everyone's experiences has given me so much hope and practical information. The timeline approach, getting everything in writing, and making sure payments are coded correctly - these are all things I never would have thought to ask about. My company is pretty progressive with benefits but I don't think anyone has ever asked about this. We're about 75 employees and I know at least 3 other women have taken maternity leave in the past few years, so I'm surprised this hasn't come up before. Makes me wonder if they just didn't know it was possible either! I'm planning to approach our HR director next week with the information from this thread. The business case points about employee retention and recruitment are so helpful - especially since we've been struggling to compete with larger companies for talent. Quick question for anyone still following this thread - when you created your timeline document, did you include specific dollar amounts for what the supplemental pay would be? Or did you keep it more general with just percentages? I want to make it as easy as possible for them to understand the financial impact. Thank you all for sharing your experiences so openly. This community is incredible! 💕

This thread has been absolutely invaluable! I'm currently 14 weeks pregnant and was honestly feeling pretty overwhelmed about the financial side of maternity leave. Like many of you, I had just accepted that I'd be living on 60-70% of my income for several months. I work for a tech startup (about 80 employees) that's been growing quickly, and while they offer decent benefits, I don't think maternity leave supplemental pay has ever been on their radar. After reading all your experiences and advice, I'm feeling much more confident about approaching this conversation. The point about framing it as enhancing competitive benefits really resonates with me - our company is always talking about how we need to compete with bigger tech companies for talent, and this seems like exactly the kind of benefit that could make a real difference in recruitment and retention. I'm planning to use the timeline approach several of you mentioned, along with the specific dollar amounts suggestion. I think having concrete numbers will help them understand both the actual cost and the value proposition. One thing I'm curious about - for those of you at smaller companies who successfully implemented this, did you face any challenges with the company's existing payroll or benefits systems? I'm wondering if I should proactively suggest they connect with our payroll provider (we use Gusto) to make sure there aren't any technical hurdles. Thank you all for sharing such detailed experiences and practical advice. This community has given me the tools and confidence to advocate for myself in a way I never would have thought possible! 🌟