Unemployment Claim and CA Disability Claim - How Do the Two Related?

Hi.... well they are two seperate claims... one you were working and got laid off... you and your employer has paid into that, over the time you have been working. Being laid off is diffrent, than being disabled???? When a mother to be is ready to go on baby leave... you then get a disabilty check because you are not able to work???? the doctor will sign forms for you to have the time off? what happens .. is the doctor will note how much time you will get off for maternity leave. Then the doctor will put on the forms when you should go back to work...... then you go back to work? Being laid off you dont go back to work..... you find another job.

Hi G.,

I know for a fact that you are eligible to receive the following as long as you have paid into it (you have ever worked):
You will have a one week grave peiod with the start of all of these (meaning you will not get paid for the first 7 days.)
4 weeks prior to you giving birth
6 weeks after birth
another 6 weeks of paid Family Bonding Act. After you disabilty payments are over you will receive a letter asking you if you are still disabled. Check no. It will also ask you if you would like to start your FBA benefit now. Check yes and send it back. Because you have the option to You have the option to use FBA at anytime within the first 12 months of your childs life (you can also use this if you have adopted a child). Your husband is also eligible for this benefit.
Here is a link to a website that will help answer your questions-
http://www.paidfamilyleave.org/child.html
FMLA does not pay you anything it only holds your job for you for 12 weeks. Since you have no job you do not have to file for this.
The only this I am not sure of is what happens when you are on unemployment. I thought I remember reading somewhere that you have to be employed but I could be so wrong about that. My advice on the disability thing would be to call the state diability office. You will wait on hold for a long time but once they get on the line they are great about explaining everything to you. Good luck!

I am in Canada so I don't know if the same applies, however, right now I am on CPP Disability Benefits. Since I am on this benefit I would not be eligible for UI. Same with UI Maternity Leave, If I go on UI I wouldn't be alble to collect my disability. They are both one of the same government and won't allow you to collect both. I don't know about California but Canada allows you a years Maternal Leave now.

Hello - Not sure how unemployment works, but I know you are eligible for Disability (and probably Paid Family Leave) if you pay into State Disability Insurance (SDI) during the base period, even if you are not currently paying into SDI because you are on unemployment (base period includes wages subject to SDI tax which were paid approximately 5 to 18 months before an individual’s disability, care, or bonding claim began). You can contact EDD to figure out your base period. If you were employed during that time, paying the SDI tax in most cases is required by law.

The law allows for 4 weeks prior (doctor certified) your due date, and 6 weeks post-partum (8 weeks if c-section) and if eligible, 6 weeks of Paid Family Leave (if you paid into SDI, you would have also paid in to PFL) to bond w/ your new baby. Your baby's dad is also eligible for PFL if he wants to take time off to bond in the baby's 1st year of life (6 weeks too).

I am pretty familiar w/ both programs, message me separately if you have other questions, maybe I can help.

I know in Ohio - you have to be physically, mentally & able to work to collect UE. What I was told was the during the time in which I wasn't all 3 then I couldn't recieve a check, but once my doctors released me from the unable to work statue I could start my claim again. I am due in July and have been unemployed since last July... I'm starting back to school in September on a TAA/WIA grant - which is offered to displaced workers & workers who's jobs have been sent overseas. I'm still applying for jobs like my state requires & have always worked up to my due dates w/ all my kids - so in my eyes I'm able to work till the day I go into the hospital for delivery... but my job was an office position. Yours restrictions may be different based on the job you use to do & your state may be different requirements also.

But once I'm released by my doctors I will fill out a reopen claim... personnaly I don't think I will stop the search for employment even the week that I have the baby, so I'm not sure why I shouldn't get UE... but I will follow what I was told so that I don't take a chance of having to pay back the funds at a later time.

Good luck!

Alissa P. has a very accurate answer. This also happened to me. I received unemployment until my 36th week of pregnancy, then I filed for disability. (I think I indicated on my unemployment form that I was now "unable" to work). I received my disability payments, then family leave, and then resumed the unemployment benefits.

I'm so glad you asked this question. I'm in the same boat--laid off in November and having a baby in May. I couldn't get any intelligible answers off the EDD website either, but this is what I understand from talking with my OB who apparently deals with this all the time. You can apply for disability benefits when you're 36 weeks pregnant. You should be able to receive disability for the ~4 weeks leading up to the birth and for 6 weeks post partum for a vaginal birth and 8 weeks post partum for a C-section. After that, you can either resume your unemployment by request (reapply? I'm not quite sure how this works) or you can receive 6 weeks paid family medical leave and 6 weeks unpaid family medical leave. I'm not 100% sure if the family medical leave starts automatically after your disability ends, but I bet you'll get some extra literature about it when you start receiving your disability benefits. What I do know is that once you apply for disability, your unemployment benefits will automatically stop--to be sure, you could also check that box on your unemployment sheet that says you were unable to work because of pregnancy. That way, you won't be double dipping. In the end, I decided that it makes senses to apply for disability so you can functionally extend your unemployment benefits when you're ready to return to work.

I hope that helps some. I'm going on what my Dr has told me, so I'm not promising that all the info I'm giving you is 100% accurate, but I think it's pretty close. Good luck!