EDD SDI start date confusion when baby arrived same day as last work day - holiday pay affecting claim date?

Your SDI should start on the first day you were disabled and unable to work - which would be 12/24 in your case. The fact that you're receiving holiday pay doesn't change when your disability actually began. On the DE 2501 form, you need to be truthful about your first day of disability. But don't worry! You can still receive both holiday pay AND SDI benefits for the same period. You just need to report any wages/income you receive during your disability period on your certification forms. EDD will then adjust your benefit amount accordingly for those weeks where you received holiday pay. This is very common with end-of-year births - lots of overlap with holiday pay periods.

CONGRATS on ur baby!! i had almost the EXACT situation in 2023!! my dr put 12/21 as my first disability day even tho i had pto and holiday pay all the way til new years. EDD was fine with it and just reduced my benefit amount during those weeks when i was getting paid by work. then when my holiday pay ended the full SDI kicked in automatically!

I went through something similar last year and learned that SDI and employer pay are two completely separate things. Your disability claim should reflect the medical reality (first day unable to work due to childbirth) regardless of what your employer pays you. The correct date would be 12/24 since that's your first day of disability. But when you certify for benefits, you'll report any wages/holiday pay, and EDD will adjust accordingly. This actually protects you by establishing your claim earlier, which can matter if there are any issues later. Also, congrats on your baby! And good thinking asking about this before filing - so many people (including me) mess this up and have to deal with corrections later.

This is confusing because having a baby counts as a "disability" for state purposes but not for how we normally think! lol. But yeah the date you're disabled from working is the day after delivery typically. So 12/24 should be your SDI start date even though you're getting other pay.

wait I'm confused now... does anyone know if this applies to PFL baby bonding too? I'm taking PFL after my disability ends and my work is paying me partial wages during that time... do I need to report those?? nobody told me!

If anyone's having trouble actually reaching EDD to get a straight answer on this (which is super common), I finally got through using Claimyr. It connects you directly to an EDD agent without the endless waiting and disconnects. Saved me so much stress when I had a similar SDI question after my baby. You can check them out at claimyr.com - they have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/DOLxZQb92wM?si=6N1iCQ3a8Cdb2Ay5 I confirmed with the EDD agent that for pregnancy/birth claims, you should always list the first day you couldn't work due to the medical condition (so 12/24 in your case) regardless of PTO, vacation, or holiday pay.

Just wanted to add that the doctor who completes their portion of your disability claim will likely put 12/24 as the beginning of your disability period anyway. My doctor put the day after I gave birth as my disability start date, even though I had discussed trying to use some vacation time first. The medical portion of the form overrides what you put, so the point might be moot.

theres actually a whole section on the edd website about this! its under "coordination of benefits" or something. you can get both types of pay at same time but they offset. my hr actually reported my holiday pay to edd automatically so i didnt need to do anything but your company might be different

UPDATE: Thanks everyone for your help! I talked to my doctor's office and they confirmed they'll be putting 12/24 as my disability start date. And I was able to reach someone at EDD (finally!) who confirmed I should report my holiday pay on my certification forms. They'll reduce my benefit amount for those weeks but it'll establish my claim properly. One less thing to stress about while figuring out this whole new mom thing!

Congratulations on your new baby! I just went through this exact situation last month when my daughter arrived unexpectedly early on my last work day before Christmas break. The key thing to remember is that your SDI disability start date should be based on when you were medically unable to work, not when your employer stops paying you. So 12/24 is correct since that's the first day you couldn't work due to childbirth. What helped me was thinking of it this way: SDI and your employer's holiday pay are completely separate systems. You can receive both simultaneously - EDD will just reduce your SDI benefit amount during weeks when you report receiving wages from your employer. Make sure to keep good records of exactly how much holiday pay you receive each week, because you'll need to report those amounts on your bi-weekly certifications. The EDD system is actually pretty good at handling these overlapping payments once you report them correctly. Also, if you're planning to take PFL for baby bonding after your SDI ends, the same wage reporting rules will apply there too. Good luck with everything!