Unemployment, State Disability, and Paid Family Leave

When work stops — a layoff, an illness, a new baby, a parent who needs care — California has three programs that replace part of your paycheck. All three are run by the Employment Development Department (EDD), and you already paid for them through payroll deductions. Here is how each one works.

Unemployment Insurance (UI): you lost work through no fault of your own

UI covers you when you lose your job or your hours through no fault of your own — layoffs, closures, slow seasons. You must be able to work, available for work, and looking for work (Unemployment Insurance Code section 1253).

Two things disqualify you: quitting without good cause, or getting fired for misconduct (section 1256). Misconduct is narrower than employers pretend. Struggling at the job, a good-faith mistake, or one bad day usually is not misconduct. And quitting can still qualify if you had a real reason — unsafe conditions, a serious pay cut. Never decide on your own that you don't qualify. Apply and make EDD decide. One honest limit: UI requires current work authorization, because you must be legally available to take a new job.

State Disability Insurance (SDI): you can't work, and work didn't cause it

SDI pays when an illness, injury, or pregnancy that did not come from your job keeps you from doing your regular work (section 2626). It pays a majority of your usual wage — a bigger share if you earn less — up to a cap that is adjusted every year, so skip the old charts and check EDD's current figures. Your doctor certifies the claim. SDI does not ask about immigration status: if money came out of your check, you paid in. File fast — currently within 41 days of your first payable day (section 2706.1). Deadlines change; confirm with EDD.

The move most injured workers miss

If you were hurt at work and the insurance company is disputing your workers' comp claim, do not sit at zero income while they fight. Apply for SDI. The law lets EDD pay you while liability is disputed, and EDD and the insurer settle up later at the appeals board (section 2629.1). Filing for SDI is not admitting your injury wasn't from work. If a comp insurer is stalling or denying you, that is a workers' compensation problem too — see knowyourrightsatwork.com.

Paid Family Leave (PFL): someone needs you

PFL pays — currently up to eight weeks (section 3301) — when you take time off to:

• Care for a seriously ill child, parent, parent-in-law, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner (sections 3301, 3302)
• Bond with a new child during the first year after birth, adoption, or foster placement
• Handle certain events when a spouse, partner, child, or parent is on active military duty

PFL pays like SDI and, like SDI, has no immigration-status bar.