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California maternity leave, explained

California gives you two separate things when you have a baby: time off with your job held, and pay while you’re out. They come from different laws, run by different agencies, and they don’t tell each other about you. Here’s how they fit.

The short version

  • A typical leave is about 22 weeks with your job held: up to 4 weeks before your due date, 6 weeks of recovery (8 after a C-section), then 12 weeks of bonding.
  • About 17 of those weeks are paid by the state, at roughly 70%–90% of your wages, up to $1,765 a week in 2026.
  • Pregnancy Disability Leave and CFRA hold your job. State Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave pay you. You need both kinds.
  • Your employer may add pay or more weeks on top. Ask HR for the policy in writing.

Two questions for every week

Every week of your leave answers two questions: are you being paid, and is your job held? The best weeks are both. A week that’s paid but not job-protected, or protected but unpaid, is worth knowing about in advance — that’s where planning pays off.

Job protection comes from Pregnancy Disability Leave while you’re recovering, then CFRA while you bond with your baby. Pay comes from State Disability Insurance, then Paid Family Leave.

How the programs stack

  • Before baby and recovery. PDL holds your job and SDI pays you, after a 7-day unpaid waiting period. Your provider certifies the dates.
  • Bonding. CFRA holds your job for 12 more weeks. Paid Family Leave pays 8 of them. The rest are unpaid unless you use PTO or your employer pays.
  • FMLA, the federal law, applies at employers with 50+ employees. It runs at the same time as PDL, so it adds protection but not extra weeks.

CFRA never runs at the same time as PDL, at any size of employer — bonding time starts when your recovery ends. That’s why California leave is longer than people expect.

If your employer pays too

Many employers add short-term disability or paid parental leave. State pay and company pay can be combined, but together they can’t pass your usual weekly pay. Some employers pay only the difference above your state benefit; others pay their own amount, and EDD trims your benefit to fit.

Company leave longer than CFRA’s 12 weeks is held by your employer’s policy rather than state law, so get those dates confirmed in writing.

In San Francisco

If you work in San Francisco for an employer with 20+ employees, your employer tops up Paid Family Leave toward your full pay. See SF Paid Parental Leave.

Where these numbers come from

General information about California law, not legal advice. Your employer and EDD decide your actual leave and benefits.