EDD PFL timing confusion - do I apply BEFORE or AFTER starting maternity leave?

Your HR packet is correct! For maternity leave in California, you actually need to apply for two separate benefits. First is State Disability Insurance (SDI) for the pregnancy/recovery period - that's your 6 weeks. THEN you apply for Paid Family Leave (PFL) for the baby bonding period - your 8 weeks. You should apply for SDI within 49 days of becoming disabled (usually when you stop working before birth). Then after your disability period ends, you apply for PFL. So you're applying for PFL after you've already been on leave for a while. Don't worry about a gap in payments - they're designed to transition smoothly if you file everything correctly!

To clarify what the previous comment said, you'll use form DE2501 for the pregnancy disability claim (SDI) and later form DE2508 for your baby bonding claim (PFL). They're separate applications with different timeframes. For your SDI claim, you can actually file up to 49 days AFTER your last day of work - but I'd recommend filing as soon as you stop working so you don't delay your benefits. Your doctor needs to certify your disability period, which is typically 4 weeks before birth and 6-8 weeks after depending on delivery type. Then for PFL baby bonding, you file after the disability claim ends. You'll need your baby's birth certificate for this one.

I was sooooo confused about this too when I had my baby in January!! The EDD website is terrible at explaining it clearly. But yes, first SDI then PFL. The stupid part is they don't tell you this stuff clearly until you're already pregnant and panicking about money lol

Hey, I just went through this exact process with my February birth! Here's what worked for me: 1. File your SDI claim online the day you stop working (don't wait 49 days!) 2. Have your doctor submit their portion ASAP 3. Once approved, you'll get payments for your pregnancy disability period 4. About 1-2 weeks before your disability ends, file your PFL claim online 5. PFL payments should start right after disability ends if you time it right One thing no one told me: if you do the PFL claim online, there's actually an option to automatically transition from SDI to PFL! It's not obvious but it's there if you look for it. I'd recommend creating your SDI online account now, before baby arrives, as it's easier to get everything set up beforehand.

idk if anyone mentioend this but make sure your doctor files their part!!!! my benefits got delayed for WEEKS bc my ob never submitted her portion of my disability claim and nobody told me until i called EDD

The worst part about this whole process is trying to get anyone on the phone at EDD if you have questions or problems. I spent LITERALLY 5 hours on hold last month when I had an issue with my transition from SDI to PFL. The phone system kept hanging up on me after 30-45 minutes. I was ready to throw my phone across the room!!! Finally used a service called Claimyr that got me through to an actual human at EDD within 20 minutes. Best $20 I ever spent considering I was about to miss a mortgage payment. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/DOLxZQb92wM?si=6N1iCQ3a8Cdb2Ay5 and their website is claimyr.com. Seriously saved my sanity.

Thanks everyone for your super helpful replies! I feel much less confused now. So to make sure I understand: 1. Apply for SDI when I stop working (using form DE2501) 2. After baby is born, I'll be on SDI for 6-8 weeks 3. Before SDI ends, apply for PFL (form DE2508) for the baby bonding portion 4. PFL will last 8 weeks after my SDI ends I'm definitely going to set up my online account today and talk to my doctor at my next appointment to make sure they know to submit their portion promptly. This whole process would be so much easier if they just combined everything into one application!

A quick heads up - make sure your employer has given you the right information about their leave policies too. Some employers require you to use all your accrued PTO before state benefits kick in, while others let you supplement SDI/PFL with PTO to get to 100% of your salary (since state benefits only cover about 60-70%). Worth double-checking with HR about how they handle this specifically.

I actually applied for PFL while still on SDI and it worked fine. Applied about 2 weeks before my SDI ended and the transition was seamless. Just make sure you understand that the wage replacement isn't 100% - I think it's around 60-70% of your salary up to a maximum. Caught me off guard even though I should have known better!

Just wanted to add my experience from having my baby last fall - one thing that really helped me was keeping a simple calendar/checklist of all the deadlines and forms. I wrote down when to file SDI (day I stopped working), when to follow up with my doctor about their certification, when to apply for PFL (2 weeks before SDI ended), etc. Also, don't panic if there's a small gap between your SDI ending and PFL starting - mine had about a 3-day gap but they backdated the PFL payments so I didn't lose any money. The key is just staying on top of the timeline and following up if anything seems delayed. You've got this! The hardest part is understanding the process, which you clearly do now thanks to everyone's great advice here.

This thread has been absolutely incredible! I'm 31 weeks pregnant and have been stressing about the EDD process for weeks. My employer just handed me a pile of forms with zero explanation, and the official EDD website might as well be written in a foreign language. Reading through everyone's experiences has finally made this make sense - SDI first for pregnancy disability using form DE2501, then PFL for baby bonding using form DE2508. The fact that these are two completely separate applications with different timing was the missing piece I needed! I'm particularly grateful for the practical tips about setting up the online account early, coordinating with my doctor's office about their submission process, and keeping a calendar of all the deadlines. The mention of text notifications and the automatic transition option gives me so much hope that this doesn't have to be as stressful as I was imagining. One thing I'm wondering - for those who've been through this recently, did you find it helpful to contact EDD directly at any point to confirm your understanding of the process, or is it better to just follow the timeline and trust the system? I'm a bit of a worrier and want to make sure I don't miss anything important! Thank you all for sharing such detailed, real-world advice. This community support is exactly what expecting parents need when dealing with these confusing government systems! 🙏