[Dad Q on behalf of mom]Employer-provided leave beyond CA PDL (not FMLA/CIFRA eligible)

[cary8blake]

Hello, I'm an expecting California dad asking on behalf of my wife, who is due in 4 weeks.

My wife is planning to go on maternity leave imminently. We understand that she will be eligible for job security via Parental Disability Leave (PDL), which would be as little as 6 weeks, and could be more depending on what our doctor says. Plus we know she is eligible for SDI during that time.

However, my wife is NOT eligible for FMLA and CIFRA, because she has not been working at the company for more than a year, and they have fewer than 20 employees.

Odds are good that if she asks for more leave than 6 weeks (we would prefer 12 weeks), her boss would grant her that leave, regardless of PDL. However, if and when her employer grants us extra leave beyond PDL, is my wife then covered under the same job security protections as she would under PDL?

My wife isn't under any contracts, so we understand that under any normal circumstance she could just get fired with no protection. However, if our PDL ends after 6 weeks and her boss granted her 12 weeks, it would be distressing to find out at week 7 (or week 12) that she's been laid off.

 

[stbwyze]

@cary8blake I don't know of any protections she would have in that situation. I wouldn't stress too much on it though. Sounds like if her employer is nice enough to give her additional leave when they don't have to, that they wouldn't let her go during that time.

 

[orthodox_christian]

@stbwyze Ditto to this. Also get it in writing. Even if she's not technically protected, it's proof of approval to others in the company should questioning arise.

 

[cary8blake]

@stbwyze Thank you! That's good to know. The company she's working for has been in flux recently (in fact she'd been working for them for several years and was a much larger company, but then it was spun off from the parent company and the workforce was massively reduced, which is why she's not eligible for CIFRA). The company isn't nearly as stable as it was a year ago, so there's a constant fear that the other shoe would drop. We're just looking for the most protections my wife can get during our transition into parenthood.