CA Maternity and Parental Leave: What No One Told You (But Really Should Have)
So you just found out you're pregnant—or maybe you're deep in your second trimester and starting to think about parental leave. Cue the Google spiral: “How long is maternity leave in California?” “Do I get paid?” “What the heck is SDI?” And suddenly you're drowning in legal acronyms and state websites that look like they haven’t been updated since 2004. And your employer doesn’t seem to have any parental leave policy at all!
Deep breath. You’re not alone.
California actually has some of the most generous maternity and parental leave protections in the country—but (and this is a big BUT) you have to know how to use them. There’s no single, magical “maternity leave” button you can press. Instead, your time off is usually a stack of different programs and laws that work together—if you know how to make them work for you.
Here’s the gist:
Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) is the time you can take before and after giving birth if your doctor says you need it. This is a right, not a perk.
State Disability Insurance (SDI) is what actually pays you during that PDL time. Yes, this is wage replacement. Yes, you probably already pay into it.
California Family Rights Act (CFRA) is your bonding leave—aka time off after baby is born that’s protected by law (and yes, partners get it too).
And Paid Family Leave (PFL) is what covers part of your income while you’re bonding with your baby under CFRA.
There’s more nuance, of course. Like, how to stack your leaves for the most time off, or what to do if your HR team gives you vague vibes (or worse, bad info). But you don’t need to figure it all out alone.
That’s where we come in.
At 29 Weeks, we’ve created a step-by-step course that breaks down California parental leave into real talk—not legal jargon. You’ll learn how to maximize your time off and your paycheck, avoid the common traps, and plan a leave that actually supports your family (and your sanity)—even beyond what your employer offers!
Yes—you could take up to 7 months off. Yes—you can learn to plan your own 29 Stack.
So if you’re ready to go from “WTF is CFRA” to confident and covered, jump into Unlock Your Leave and start planning the leave you actually deserve.
You’ve got this—and we’ve got you.
