Call Today: 949-569-7224
Call Today: 949-569-7224
How much pregnancy disability leave do you get in California? Government Code section 12945 gives an employee who is disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical condition up to four months of job-protected leave, which works out to about 693 hours for a full-time, 40-hour-a-week employee. The employer must have at least five employees.
Bear Republic Law, A.P.C. represents employees in Laguna Niguel and across South Orange County, never employers. Founder Andrew Nissen and our Orange County pregnancy discrimination attorneys represent pregnant and postpartum employees who were denied leave, refused accommodations, demoted, or fired around a pregnancy.
Contact Bear Republic Law for a free, confidential consultation with an Orange County pregnancy discrimination attorney. The sooner our pregnancy discrimination lawyers review your situation, the more options can stay open.
An employee qualifies for pregnancy disability leave, often called PDL, when a health care provider certifies that pregnancy, childbirth, or a related condition makes them unable to work or to perform one or more essential job duties without undue risk. The employer must have five or more employees, and there is no minimum length of service.
That last point surprises many workers. A new hire who started two weeks ago has the same right to pregnancy disability leave as someone who has worked for the company for ten years. Part-time and full-time employees both qualify, and the leave is available for each pregnancy.
California measures pregnancy disability leave as the hours an employee would normally work in four months, or about 17 and one-third weeks. A full-time employee working 40 hours a week gets up to 693 hours. A part-time employee working 20 hours a week gets about 347 hours. Overtime hours normally worked count toward the total.
The four months is a ceiling, not a set amount. The actual length depends on how long the employee is disabled, as certified by a health care provider. One employee may need only a few days for a complication early in pregnancy plus six weeks after delivery. Another may need several months because of bed rest and a difficult recovery.
Yes. California allows pregnancy disability leave to be taken in one block, in shorter blocks, or intermittently as needed, including for prenatal appointments, severe morning sickness, or a reduced schedule. Each hour of intermittent leave counts against the four-month total, and the employer must still protect the employee's job.
Intermittent leave means time off in separate pieces rather than all at once, such as a half day each week for medical visits. A reduced schedule might mean working six-hour days instead of eight-hour days for a period of time. Either option requires a certification from a health care provider stating the medical need.
An employer may temporarily transfer an employee who needs intermittent leave to an available position with equivalent pay and benefits that better fits the schedule, but only if the transfer is reasonable and the employee is returned to the original job afterward.
Yes. Under Government Code section 12945, an employer that provides group health coverage must maintain that coverage during pregnancy disability leave for up to four months, on the same terms as if the employee were still working. The employee still pays their usual share of the premium.
The employer may recover its premiums only in limited cases if the employee does not return. Other benefits, such as vacation accrual, seniority, or a 401(k) match, follow the employer's policy for other types of temporary disability leave. An employer cannot treat pregnancy leave worse than it treats leave for a back injury or surgery recovery.
Pregnancy disability leave itself is unpaid job protection, but most California employees can receive State Disability Insurance (SDI) benefits through the Employment Development Department during the leave. SDI generally pays 70 to 90 percent of wages, up to a weekly maximum of $1,765 in 2026, depending on earnings.
The Employment Development Department, often called the EDD, runs both State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave. For an uncomplicated pregnancy, SDI typically covers up to four weeks before the expected due date and up to six weeks after a vaginal delivery or eight weeks after a cesarean delivery. A health care provider can certify a longer period when there are complications.
SDI and Paid Family Leave provide money, not job protection. Job protection comes from pregnancy disability leave and the California Family Rights Act, which is why the two systems need to be lined up carefully.
Pregnancy disability leave and California Family Rights Act (CFRA) leave are separate. After pregnancy disability leave ends, an eligible employee can take up to 12 more weeks of CFRA leave to bond with the baby. Together, the two laws can provide up to about seven months of job-protected leave in a single year.
CFRA, found at Government Code section 12945.2, applies to employers with five or more employees but has stricter eligibility rules than pregnancy disability leave. The employee must have worked for the employer for at least 12 months and at least 1,250 hours in the 12 months before the leave. Bonding leave must be used within one year of the child's birth.
A common mistake is an employer counting pregnancy disability leave against CFRA leave, or telling an employee the full leave is "12 weeks total." In California, the two leaves stack for most employees who qualify for both.
Yes, in most cases. California regulations guarantee reinstatement to the same position after pregnancy disability leave. An employer can offer a comparable position instead only in narrow situations, such as when the original job would have been eliminated for legitimate business reasons, like a layoff, that had nothing to do with the leave.
The same position means the same job, at the same location, with the same duties, pay, and schedule. A return-to-work offer with fewer hours, a less favorable shift, a different store across Orange County, or a lower title can violate the reinstatement guarantee unless the employer can prove a recognized exception.
The employer bears the burden of proving the exception. Paperwork showing the position was eliminated before the leave began, for reasons unrelated to the pregnancy, is often central in these disputes.
California employers with five or more employees must provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy-related conditions when a health care provider recommends them. These can include modified duties, more frequent breaks, a stool or chair, time off for appointments, temporary transfer to a less strenuous or hazardous position, and lactation breaks after the baby is born.
A reasonable accommodation is a change to the job or workplace that allows the employee to keep working safely. Government Code section 12945 requires the employer to engage in a good-faith discussion about the request and to provide accommodations unless they would create an undue hardship.
When the need for leave is foreseeable, such as a scheduled delivery date, the employee should give at least 30 days' notice. When the need is not foreseeable, such as a sudden complication, notice should be given as soon as practicable. Notice can be verbal, and the employee does not need to name the law.
An employer can deny leave for missing the 30-day notice only in limited situations, and never when the emergency made advance notice impossible. A simple written message to HR or a supervisor stating the expected due date and the need for leave creates a clear record.
No. Firing, demoting, cutting hours, or otherwise punishing an employee for requesting or taking pregnancy disability leave is unlawful under the Fair Employment and Housing Act. Retaliation and interference with leave rights can support claims for lost wages, emotional distress damages, and attorney's fees, and in some cases punitive damages.
Warning signs include a sudden negative review after announcing a pregnancy, comments about whether the employee will "really come back," a replacement hired before the leave starts, or a layoff that happens to fall on the employee's first week back. Timing between the leave and the adverse action is often the first fact our Laguna Niguel pregnancy discrimination lawyers look at.
A complaint must generally be filed with the California Civil Rights Department within three years of the unlawful act under Government Code section 12960, and a lawsuit must generally follow within one year of a right-to-sue notice. Our earlier article on how much you can sue for pregnancy discrimination in California covers the damages available in those claims.
Our Orange County pregnancy discrimination attorneys start with a free consultation to review the leave request, the employer's response, and any changes to the job. The work then moves through evidence preservation, a California Civil Rights Department complaint and right-to-sue notice, investigation, a demand to the employer, and, when needed, a lawsuit in Orange County Superior Court.
Andrew Nissen founded Bear Republic Law, A.P.C. to represent individuals, not employers. He is a contributing editor to California Causes of Action, a California practice guide published by James Publishing, and a member of the Consumer Attorneys of California, the Orange County Trial Lawyers Association, and the Orange County Bar Association.
Andrew earned his B.A. from Santa Clara University and his J.D. from New England Law | Boston, and began his career in Silicon Valley and Boston. He is also a member of the American Association for Justice. He lives in South Orange County and works with employees from Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, Aliso Viejo, Ladera Ranch, Dana Point, and Irvine.
Pregnant and postpartum employees have clear leave and job protection rights under California law, and the deadlines to enforce them are real. Contact Bear Republic Law for a free consultation.
Attorney Advertising | Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
