Pregnancy Disability Leave Overview: Legal Reasons #58

Employers with five or more employees are covered by California’s pregnancy disability leave law.

Covered employers	PDL is state law. Employers with five or more employees are covered.
Maximum amount of leave	The actual time designated as disability related to pregnancy is determined by the employee’s health care provider. The maximum amount of time available is four months, or 17 1/3 weeks per pregnancy. Note that if an employee is disabled longer than four months, she may be entitled to a leave as a reasonable accommodation for her pregnancy-related or other disability.
Employee eligibility	Employees who work for covered employers are eligible for PDL upon hire.
Reasons for leave	PDL can be used for any time the eligible employee is disabled by pregnancy, childbirth or a related medical condition.
Employer responsibilities	Post required posters, include a PDL policy in your employee handbook and send a notice to any employee who needs PDL.
Interaction with other leaves	Can run concurrently with federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) absences but not with California Family Rights Act (CFRA) absences.
Ending the employment relationship before the leave expires	The employee cannot be subject to adverse employment action because she used PDL. Seek legal counsel before terminating anyone on PDL.
Return to work	The employee is entitled to reinstatement to the job she held before PDL began.