EDD PFL payments - do I need to certify weekly or are they automatic?
I just received my first PFL payment for baby bonding (yay!) but now I'm totally confused about what happens next. With unemployment, I had to certify every 2 weeks. But with Paid Family Leave, do I need to certify each week to keep getting payments? Or will they just automatically send the rest of my benefits on a regular schedule? The EDD website is so confusing and the paperwork doesn't clearly explain the process. I'm worried about missing a certification and having my payments delayed. Anyone gone through this recently who can explain the process?
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Jayden Hill
Good news! PFL payments are automatic - you don't need to certify every week like with unemployment. Once approved, your payments should come every two weeks until your claim period ends (up to 8 weeks total for baby bonding). The only time you'd need to submit anything additional is if something changes - like if you return to work earlier than planned or need to extend your leave due to complications.
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Isabella Tucker
•Omg thank you!! That's such a relief. I was stressing about having to remember to certify with a newborn taking up all my time and energy. So I can just expect payments every 2 weeks without doing anything? That seems almost too easy for EDD lol
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LordCommander
congrats on the baby!! i remember being confused about this too. u dont have to do anything else, they just send the money on their own every 2 weeks. way easier than unemployment!!
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Isabella Tucker
•Thanks! And thanks for confirming! It makes sense but the EDD instructions are never clear about anything.
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Lucy Lam
WRONG INFO ABOVE!!! I lost 2 weeks of payments because I didn't know I had to file another DE2501F form mid-claim!!! EDD is DELIBERATELY confusing to save money by not paying benefits!!! You need to call and verify your specific claim requirements!!!
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Jayden Hill
•I think you might be confusing Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL/SDI) with Paid Family Leave (PFL) for baby bonding. For PDL, you sometimes need doctor recertification with DE2501 forms. For baby bonding PFL, once approved, payments are automatic until your claim period ends. They're different programs with different processes.
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Aidan Hudson
For anyone trying to call EDD to check on this or any other claim issue, I highly recommend using Claimyr. I wasted 3 hours on hold before discovering their service, and they got me connected to an EDD agent in under 25 minutes. You can see how it works at https://youtu.be/DOLxZQb92Wm?si=6N1iCQ3a8Cdb2Ay5. Their website is claimyr.com - it saved me so much frustration during my maternity leave when I needed to ask questions about my benefit payments.
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Zoe Wang
•does this actually work? ive literally never been able to get thru to a human at EDD even when calling right when they open
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Aidan Hudson
•It did for me! I was skeptical too but it connected me to an actual person who answered my questions about my claim transition from disability to baby bonding. Definitely worth it to avoid the hours of hold music.
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Connor Richards
To clarify the process: PFL baby bonding payments are indeed automatic once your claim is approved. However, it's important to note: 1. PFL payments typically come every 2 weeks 2. Your claim is active for the specific date range you requested on your application 3. If you need to return to work earlier than planned, you must notify EDD 4. If you need to extend your leave beyond what you initially requested, you may need to file additional paperwork 5. Some employers require periodic check-ins even though EDD doesn't If you have a complex situation (like transitioning from PDL/SDI to PFL, or splitting your leave into non-consecutive periods), there may be additional steps required. But for a standard, continuous PFL baby bonding claim, once approved, you should receive payments automatically.
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Isabella Tucker
•Thank you for such a thorough explanation! This is exactly what I needed to understand. My situation is pretty straightforward - just the standard 8 weeks of baby bonding right after my disability ended. It's weird how none of this was clearly explained in any of the paperwork they sent.
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Grace Durand
Congrats on your baby! When I had my son last year I remember thinking the exact same thing. The whole process from pregnancy disability through paid family leave was so confusing. For PFL you just get the money deposited every two weeks which is nice... but I'm now dealing with a whole other mess because I got a letter saying I was overpaid for some reason. So keep all your paperwork just in case!
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Isabella Tucker
•Oh no! Sorry to hear about your overpayment issue. Did they explain why it happened? I'll definitely keep everything organized just in case.
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Grace Durand
•They said something about incorrect dates for when I returned to work part-time, but honestly it made no sense because I followed the instructions exactly! Still fighting with them about it 3 months later...
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LordCommander
anyone know how long the total benefit period is now? i heard they increased it recently but not sure if thats true
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Connor Richards
•As of 2025, California PFL still provides up to 8 weeks of benefits for baby bonding. This hasn't changed recently. There was some discussion in the legislature about possibly extending it, but no laws have passed yet to increase the duration. What has changed is that more employees are now covered, including those at smaller companies.
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Jayden Hill
One more tip from my experience - take a screenshot or photo of your EDD account page showing your claim was approved and the payment information. Sometimes their system has glitches, and having documentation of what you were approved for can save you headaches later if there are any issues with your payments.
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Isabella Tucker
•That's a great idea! I just took screenshots of everything. The EDD online system is so temperamental, I wouldn't be surprised if something got lost.
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Zara Mirza
Just wanted to add my recent experience - I'm currently on PFL for baby bonding and can confirm the payments are automatic! Got my first payment last week and didn't have to do anything extra. The relief of not having to deal with weekly certifications while juggling a newborn is amazing. One thing I noticed though is that the payment amount was slightly different than what I calculated based on my wages - apparently they use a specific formula based on your highest earning quarter. Just make sure to check your first payment amount matches what you were expecting, and if not, that might be worth a call to EDD to clarify.
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Ethan Wilson
•Thanks for sharing your experience! That's really helpful to know about the payment calculation. I was wondering about that too - my first payment seemed close to what I expected but not exactly. Did you end up calling to clarify the amount difference, or did you just accept it? I'm trying to decide if it's worth the hassle of getting through to EDD just to understand the exact calculation.
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QuantumQuasar
•I had a similar experience with the payment calculation being slightly off from what I expected! I ended up not calling because the difference was only about $30 per payment and honestly, dealing with EDD phone lines while caring for a newborn just wasn't worth the stress. From what I've read, they base it on your highest quarter earnings in the past 5-18 months, but there can be some adjustments for things like pre-tax deductions that might not be obvious. If the difference is significant though, it might be worth using that Claimyr service someone mentioned earlier to get through to them more easily.
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