If you’re a father in California, you can take up to eight weeks of partial paid leave to bond with a new child through the state’s Paid Family Leave program, and that benefit is what most people mean when they talk about California paternity leave. PFL replaces part of your wages while you’re off; it does not, by itself, hold your job. Job protection is a separate question with a separate answer, and the two laws don’t always line up.
How Much Time and How Much Pay
The eight-week maximum applies whether you’re bonding with a biological child, an adopted child, or a foster child. You don’t have to take it all at once. You can spread the weeks across the 12 months after your child’s birth or placement, in blocks that fit your situation.1Employment Development Department. Paid Family Leave If you file for eight continuous weeks and then decide to return to work and save the rest for later, contact the EDD to adjust your claim.2Employment Development Department. Part-time, Intermittent, or Reduced Work Schedule FAQs
The hard deadline is 12 months from birth or placement. Weeks you haven’t used by then are gone.
Your weekly check depends on what you earned in the highest-paid quarter of your base period. Lower earners (highest-quarter wages between $722.50 and $16,279.90) receive roughly 90% of their weekly wages. Middle earners receive a flat benefit of about $1,127 per week. Higher earners (highest-quarter wages above $20,931.30) receive 70% of their weekly wages, up to a maximum of $1,765 per week.3Employment Development Department. Paid Family Leave Benefit Payment Amounts The minimum weekly payment is $50, and your total claim can’t exceed what you actually earned during the base period.
Who Qualifies
You need to have paid into California’s State Disability Insurance fund through payroll deductions. Look for a “CASDI” line on a recent pay stub. You also need at least $300 in SDI-taxable wages during a 12-month base period that falls roughly 5 to 18 months before your claim starts.1Employment Development Department. Paid Family Leave Earn less than $300 in your highest quarter and you don’t qualify at all.
Biological fathers, adoptive fathers, and foster fathers all qualify. Both parents can file their own claims for the same child, so your eight weeks don’t come out of your partner’s entitlement.
Filing the Claim
File through SDI Online in your myEDD account, or submit a paper Claim for Paid Family Leave Benefits form by mail. Online is faster.4Employment Development Department. How to File a Paid Family Leave Claim by Mail
Timing is strict. File no earlier than your first day of leave and no later than 41 days after it starts. Missing that window can cost you benefits, though the EDD can extend it for good cause.5Employment Development Department. Paid Family Leave Claim Process You’ll need to provide proof of your relationship to the child and proof of birth or placement.
Will Your Job Be Protected
PFL pays you. It does not protect your position. Two separate laws might.
California Family Rights Act
CFRA applies to employers with five or more employees. You qualify if you’ve worked for your employer more than 12 months and logged at least 1,250 hours in the preceding 12 months. CFRA gives you up to 12 workweeks of job-protected bonding leave in a 12-month period, and your employer must restore you to the same or a comparable position when you return.6California Legislative Information. California Government Code 12945.2 – Family Care and Medical Leave
Federal Family and Medical Leave Act
FMLA covers employers with 50 or more employees within a 75-mile radius. The 12-month, 1,250-hour requirements are the same, and it also provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected bonding leave.7U.S. Department of Labor. FMLA Frequently Asked Questions During FMLA leave, your employer has to keep your group health insurance going on the same terms as if you were still working.8U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #28 – The Family and Medical Leave Act
If you qualify under both, the two leaves run concurrently. You get 12 weeks total, not 24. CFRA reaches many more fathers because of the lower employer-size threshold; if your company has between 5 and 49 employees, CFRA is likely your only path to job-protected bonding leave.
Separate from job protection, your employer cannot discriminate or retaliate against you for filing a PFL claim, even if you aren’t covered by CFRA or FMLA. You can also coordinate PFL with accrued vacation, sick leave, or an employer-provided paid leave program.
If You’re Self-Employed
Self-employed workers don’t automatically pay into SDI, so they aren’t automatically eligible for PFL. You can opt in through the Disability Insurance Elective Coverage program, which covers both disability insurance and PFL.9Employment Development Department. Disability Insurance Elective Coverage (DIEC)
To join, you need net profit of at least $4,600 per year, a non-seasonal business, and a commitment to stay in the program for at least two complete calendar years. Once enrolled, you have to wait at least six months and have paid contributions for at least four months in the prior 12 months before filing a PFL claim. Signing up after you find out a baby is on the way won’t get you benefits in time. Plan early.9Employment Development Department. Disability Insurance Elective Coverage (DIEC)
Taxes on Your Benefits
PFL benefits are taxable on your federal return. The EDD sends a Form 1099-G, and the amount gets included in your federal adjusted gross income.10Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-G California does not tax PFL. You subtract the PFL income on Schedule CA (540) when you file your state return.11Franchise Tax Board. Paid Family Leave