EDD denying our final PFL paternity leave week - employer wage supplement confusion

This exact situation happened to me last year! EDD often misunderstands employer wage supplements and incorrectly categorizes them as full salary replacement. The key is getting someone on the phone who actually understands the difference. You need to have your husband's employer provide a letter explicitly stating that they only provide a PARTIAL wage supplement, not full salary during leave. Also gather his paystubs showing the breakdown between EDD payments and employer supplement. For contacting EDD, I was in the same boat - automated system hell. I finally got through by using Claimyr (claimyr.com) - they have a service that basically waits on hold for you and calls when an agent is available. They have a video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/DOLxZQb92wM?si=6N1iCQ3a8Cdb2Ay5 Once I actually spoke with someone, it took about 15 minutes to explain and they released my payment within 48 hours. Good luck!

I had something kinda similar with maternity leave last yr! EDD is so confused about these employer topups. my HR dept actually had to call them directly thru some special employer line they have. maybe ask your husbands HR if they can contact EDD directly to explain the policy? worth a shot!!

DONT WASTE YOUR TIME WITH THE MAIN NUMBER!!!!! I spent literally 6 WEEKS trying to get someone on the phone about my paternity leave claim. The EDD is COMPLETELY BROKEN as a system. The only way I finally got it resolved was sending a message through my online account AND filing a complaint with my state assembly member's office. They have caseworkers who deal with EDD issues and can actually get responses. Google "[your county] state assembly member constituent services" and you'll find contact info. My issue was fixed within 10 days after my assembly member's office got involved.

Looking at your situation from a technical perspective, this appears to be a misclassification of wage continuation vs. wage supplementation. Under EDD guidelines, wage continuation means the employer is paying 100% of regular wages (which would disqualify PFL benefits), while wage supplementation means the employer is only paying the difference between regular wages and PFL benefits (which is allowed). You need to have the employer explicitly clarify three things in writing: 1. The exact percentage/amount of wages they're supplementing 2. A statement that this is supplementation not continuation 3. Confirmation that the policy is designed to work in conjunction with state benefits Send this documentation through your online EDD account using the "Contact Us" feature, AND submit it by certified mail to the PFL office. Reference CA Unemployment Insurance Code Section 3301-3307 which establishes your right to these benefits. For expedited contact with EDD, the phone lines open exactly at 8:00 AM and your best chance is calling precisely at opening.

Has your husband's employer been reporting the wage supplement correctly to EDD? Our company's payroll department was coding our supplements wrong (as full pay instead of supplement) which was causing EDD to deny benefits. Once payroll fixed how they were reporting it to EDD, the problem was resolved. Might be worth checking with payroll/HR if they're coding it correctly in their system and reports to the state.

i had this exact issue but with maternity leave!!! the EDD lady i finally talked to said this happens ALL THE TIME with companies that offer wage supplements for paid leave. something about how the employers report it to edd makes it look like full salary. when i finally got thru to someone they fixed it in like 5 minutes and i got paid the next week. keep trying!!!

Just wanted to follow up - did you try Claimyr or any of the other suggestions? I'm curious if you've made any progress. For what it's worth, when I dealt with this issue, I made sure to have all these documents ready before the call: 1. Copy of all PFL claim paperwork 2. Husband's paystubs showing the supplement 3. Letter from employer about the supplement policy 4. Calendar showing all leave dates Having everything organized made it much easier once I finally got someone on the phone. The agent was able to immediately see the issue and fix it.

my brother went through something similar andhis company HR person had to talk to edd and explain the difference between there benefit and the state one. took like 3 weeks but he got his money eventually. red tape everywhere with these programs lol

This is such a frustrating situation but you're definitely not alone! I went through something very similar with my wife's maternity leave last year. The issue seems to be that EDD's system automatically flags any employer payment during leave as "wage continuation" even when it's clearly just a supplement. One thing that really helped us was having the employer submit a "Employer Wage Statement" form directly to EDD (I think it's form DE 8714). This form specifically clarifies whether they're providing continuation vs supplementation. Most HR departments don't know about this form but it exists specifically for these situations. Also, if you haven't already, make sure you're documenting everything - dates of calls, reference numbers, names of anyone you speak with. If this drags on much longer, you might want to consider filing a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing since denying valid PFL claims can be discriminatory. The $1,300 is significant money especially with a new baby. Don't give up - these cases usually get resolved once the right person at EDD actually looks at the documentation properly. Keep us posted on how it goes!