Parental Leave/Disability Toolkit

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Parental Leave/Disability Toolkit

• (Almost everything expectant Moms, Dads,
  Partners, Employees need to know about Leave of
  Absence)

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Glossary
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Materials

• Expectant Parents Handbook
• SDI/PFL Packets/Restoration Forms3
• Benefits Change Form/VTO Application/LOA
  Application/CareShares applications
• Glossary of Terms used in class and Departments
• Additional Information (Appendix)
• Time Calculator
• Contact List
• Payroll Schedule
• Flowchart of Forms, Timelines, Requirements

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Leave of Absence(LOA)
Sandy Cohen

• Permission to take extended time off

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Types of Leave

• Medical-Up to 1 year. Includes illness, injury,
  childbirth and pregnancy related conditions or
  care for an immediate family member with illness
  or injury.
• Parental-Up to 6 months during the first year
  following the birth or placement of a child in
  the home (adoption or foster care). Twelve weeks
  are allowed by law, after 12 weeks is at the
  discretion of the Department.
• Parental Leave is for Dads, Partners Adoptive
  Parents.
• Personal-Up to six months at the discretion of
  the department.

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Length of Time off
Pregnancy
Post Birth
Birth
/- 2-4 weeks /- 6-8 weeks Up to 6 Months
Medical Leave / Disability Medical Leave / Disability Parental Leave
Length of Time
FMLA (Federal) Up to 12 weeks Medical LeaveUp to 4 months FMLA (Fed)Remaining Time CFRA (State) Up to 12 weeks Parental Leave (County)
Return to Same Job Return to Same or Comparable Job
Law
Job Reinstate
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Laws that Affect my Leave

• FMLA Family Medical Leave Act- Provides up to 12
  weeks (480) hours per calendar year for birth or
  placement of a child or serious medical condition
  of employee or immediate family member.
• Starts on the first day of leave
• Protects status of health benefits, protects
  against discipline for excessive absence,
  protects your right to return to your job.

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Applying for FMLA?

• FMLA eligibility is considered as part of your
  LOA request and is noted on the LOA form.
• You must have been employed by the County for a
  year and have 1250 regular work hours within the
  last twelve months.
• If you are approved for FMLA, you will receive a
  letter outlining the dates it covers.
• Remember- FMLA is just related to leave, not
  money.

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How long will the County let me be out?

• Law states max 12 weeks for FMLA related leave
• Dads Partners Too!
• Time following Medical and Parental as required
  by law (between 4-6 months) is at the discretion
  of the department.

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What is the LOA form?

• Leave of Absence (LOA) form is obtained from your
  Payroll Coordinator.
• It is completed by the employee, approved by the
  supervisor and Department head and forwarded to
  Human Resources.
• Employees may designate the type, number and
  order in which their hours are used.
• Medical Leave requires a Doctors note to
  accompany the form.

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What type of time can I use?

• Sick Leave- Used during Medical portion of Leave
  while you are under a Doctors care
• 30 days of sick leave may be used at any point of
  your Parental leave.
• For Medical Leave, sick time must be exhausted
  before employee may go into unpaid status.

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What other types of time can I use?

• Vacation, Comp or Holiday time may be used for
  any type of leave.
• Employee may designate number of hours to use and
  the order in which to use them.
• Employee may leave time on the books for when
  they return to work.
• Employee may not go into unpaid status while on
  VTO.

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Remember

• Sick time can only be used while youre under
  Doctors care and the thirty days of your
  parental leave.
• If you saved up 900 hours of sick leave, you will
  probably not be able to use it all during your
  leave.
• You will need to rely on other types of time such
  as vacation, comp., etc.

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Can I opt for a month of unpaid and then use my
time?

• Employee may not select to move between paid and
  unpaid status. All time balances must be
  designated and/or used prior to unpaid status.
• Exception Employees whose time is restored
  through integration may experience some
  transition between paid and unpaid status.

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Getting Paid
Jocelyn Carpio
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SDI

• State Disability Insurance (SDI) is a
  partial-wage replacement insurance plan for
  California workers.
• The SDI program is State-mandated and funded
  through employee payroll deductions.
• SDI provides affordable, short-term benefits to
  eligible workers who suffer a loss of wages when
  they are unable to work due to a NON WORK-RELATED
  illness or injury, or a medically disabling
  condition from pregnancy or childbirth.

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When/How do I turn in the SDI form?

• Place the completed, signed form(s) in the
  envelope provided.
• Mail your claim no earlier than 9 days but no
  later than 49 days, after the first day you
  became disabled.
• If your claim form is late, you may lose
  benefits.
• If your claim form is early, EDD will return it
  back to you.

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When does SDI start?

• Most claimants are sent SDI checks within 2-3
  weeks after a properly completed form is
  received.
• By filling in your claim completely and verifying
  that all information is correct, you play a valid
  role in maintaining fast benefit check delivery.

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How Does SDI Work with my County pay?

• There is a process of integration/restoration
  where the County gives you some of your time back
  
• For the average pregnancy, the SDI related leave
  is 4 weeks before the baby is born and six weeks
  after.
• A number of circumstances may impact that
  pattern, check with SDI about eligibility if you
  do not fit this mold.
• Some employees are not covered by SDI-
  Management, Confidential and Attorneys.

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Restoration Form

• Restoration form is included in the SDI packet
  and can be obtained from your Payroll Coordinator
  or the Controller's Office.
• The employee returns it to the Controllers
  office if they wish to integrate vacation, comp
  or holiday time back into time balances.

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Integration Restoration 101

• County Check (sick, vac., comp. pay)
• SDI Check- Money from the State
• Controllers office determines how much your SDI
  check is worth in hours and puts those hours back
  in your time balances (restoration).
• The dollar amount of the SDI check is subtracted
  from your County paycheck on payday
  (integration).

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What is Integration/Restoration?

• Example
• SDI Check 1,000
• Divide SDI by your hourly rate 25.00
• 1,000/25 40 hours restored
• The dollar amount for the restoration is deducted
  from your County paycheck on payday.
• Integration is "buying back" part of the leave
  hours you have used during your disability.

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Integration/Restoration

• The SDI check issued by EDD is included with your
  pay stub and distributed on payday to your
  payroll clerk or supervisor.
• If you receive your SDI check(s) directly to your
  home, send a copy of the entire check(s)
  including check stub to the Controller's Office.
• Your SDI check cannot be directly deposited to
  your bank account.

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Remember

• Sick Leave is always restored first and then
  other time is restored in the order used by pay
  period.
• Sick leave is restored automatically if you
  receive SDI.
• Vacation, comp and holiday is only restored if
  you submit the Restoration form.

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What Hours will be restored through SDI?

• Controller's Office will restore used sick leave
  hours only.
• If you wish to restore vacation,comp. or holiday
  time, you need to fill out the "SDI Restoration
  Request Form and return to the Controller's
  Office immediately.
• VTO is not restored

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Paid Family Leave (State Program)

• Paid Family Leave (PFL) provides up to six weeks
  of paid benefits to employees who are covered by
  SDI and take time off to care for others or bond
  with a newborn or newly adopted child.
• EDD will send you the forms prior to your SDI
  ending.

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Expanded Disability

• Management, Confidential and Attorneys are not
  eligible for SDI.
• The County offers short term disability benefits
  and Expanded Short Term Disability Benefits for
  those employees.
• Only employees on Expanded Disability are
  eligible to buy back sick hours used during
  leave.

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What Hours will be restored through the Expanded
Disability Program?

• For Management, Confidential and Attorneys
• Controller's Office will restore used sick leave
  hours only (effective 7/1/07).
• Submit a copy of your ING check to the
  Controllers office within 30 days of receiving
  it
• Vacation, comp. or holiday time is not restored
  for expanded disability recipients.
• VTO is not restored for any employees

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Getting Paid
Pregnancy
Post Birth
Birth
/- 2-4 weeks /- 6-8 weeks Up to 6 Months
Medical Leave / Disability Medical Leave / Disability Parental Leave
Lengthof Time
FMLA / PDLL FMLA/CFRA Parental Leave

Law
SDI (/- 2-4 weeks) SDI PFL checks are integrated with County pay check SDI (6- 8 weeks) PFL (6 weeks)
Paid or Unpaid Time Vacation Vacation, Holiday Sick Leave, Vacation, Comp Time or Holiday Holiday Comp Time Should use Sick Leave first while under doctors care Comp Time Sick Leave VTO Hours are not restored while on SDI or PFL Unpaid Time (up to 30 days) Sick Leave VTO Unpaid Time Paid or Unpaid Time Vacation Vacation, Holiday Sick Leave, Vacation, Comp Time or Holiday Holiday Comp Time Should use Sick Leave first while under doctors care Comp Time Sick Leave VTO Hours are not restored while on SDI or PFL Unpaid Time (up to 30 days) Sick Leave VTO Unpaid Time Paid or Unpaid Time Vacation Vacation, Holiday Sick Leave, Vacation, Comp Time or Holiday Holiday Comp Time Should use Sick Leave first while under doctors care Comp Time Sick Leave VTO Hours are not restored while on SDI or PFL Unpaid Time (up to 30 days) Sick Leave VTO Unpaid Time
State
County
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County Health Benefits
Marife Ramirez de Cartagena
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How long do I have full benefits?

• During your leave you must continue to pay your
  portion of the benefit cost.
• As long as you remain in full pay status your
  benefits are unaffected.
• Once you are out of paid status for two full pay
  periods, employee must pay their portion and
  County portion to retain full benefits, except
• While Covered under FMLA(up to 12 weeks), County
  portion of benefits are paid whether or not you
  are in pay status.
• For Medical Leave, employees get two pay periods
  for each year of County Service once out of paid
  status.

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Adding the Baby

• Be sure to add the new baby(ies) to your health
  coverage within 31 days of birth.
• If you wait beyond 31 days, you will have to wait
  for open enrollment! (Thats a heck of a long
  time!)

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How much do I pay for Health Benefits?

• This is dependent on your pay status and benefits
  package.
• Your Payroll Coordinator can estimate the cost by
  looking at the County Contribution in your Gross
  to Net Earnings in the Payroll system.
• Life Insurance too.
• See Benefits chart at the back of the packet.

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When do I pay?

• You continue to pay your portion through-out.
• Once out of pay status the employee pays the full
  premium.
• Benefits Division will notify you when you must
  pay for benefits
• Questions?? Contact Benefits Division at X4229

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Frequently Asked Questions

• (FAQS)

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How long will I get paid by the County?

• As long as you have the appropriate time
  balances.
• Sick Leave for Medical Leave
• Vacation, Comp, Holiday, VTO for parental or
  personal. Use of these hours are optional for
  Medical Leave.

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What is the difference between LOA form and
Restoration form?

• The LOA form allows you to request time off for
  Medical, Parental or Personal leave.
• The LOA form is obtained from your Payroll
  Coordinator.
• The Restoration form allows time to be restored
  to your time balances.
• The Restoration form is obtained from the
  Controllers office.

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What other forms do I need?

• The LOA form completed and approved by your
  department and Human Resources.
• SDI packet from the Controllers office that
  guides you through the SDI process.
• If you dont qualify for SDI, talk to the
  Controllers office about other options.
• Benefits Change Form for your new baby.

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Why am I not getting paid each payday?

• Employee exhausted his or her time.
• Controller's Office did not receive the SDI check
  from EDD or a copy of the SDI check from the
  employee.
• Controller's Office did not receive the SDI check
  on time.
• EDD requires additional information from the
  employee or the County.

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Can I save time and go unpaid?

• For Medical Leave, sick leave must be exhausted
  before employee may go into unpaid status.
• For Parental Leave, an employee may use up to 30
  working days of sick leave. An employee is
  permitted but not required to exhaust paid leave
  ( vacation, comp., holiday, etc.).
• Employee may designate number of hours to use on
  the form and is not required to exhaust all hours
  before going into unpaid status

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Additional Programs for new Parents

• Careshares
• Flexible Spending Account
• Corporate Lactation Program
• Childcare Center
• Contact the Benefits division for more
  information on any of these programs.

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Appendix

• Contact List
• Forms
• Flowchart
• Payroll Calendar
• Time Calculator
• Benefits Chart

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Contact List
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Forms
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Flowchart
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Payroll Calendar
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Time Calculator
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Benefits Chart