In 2019, the Legislature approved a total of $8 million for another outreach campaign to continue promoting the PFL program and to amplify PFL awareness strategies throughout the state that started with the 2014 “Moments Matter” campaign. The new outreach campaign (SFYs 2020/2022) will deploy similar paid strategies that proved effective for the first campaign with a special focus on Military Assist benefits.
In June 2021, the Employment Development Department (EDD) entered into a contract with Misfit and its subcontractors Edelman and Media Solutions to implement a continuation of the “Moments Matter” campaign.
California’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) was created for the moments that matter providing benefit payments to people who need to take time off work to:
- Care for a seriously ill family member.
- Bond with a new child.
- Participate in a qualifying event because of a family member’s military deployment.
If eligible, you can receive benefit payments for up to eight weeks that don’t have to be taken at once. Payments are about 60 to 70 percent of your weekly wages earned 5 to 18 months before your claim start date. You will receive payments by debit card or check — it’s your choice!
The fastest and easiest way to file a Paid Family Leave (PFL) claim is online, using SDI Online.
For military assist claims, you must provide supporting military documentation (e.g., proof of covered active duty or call to covered active duty and documentation of the qualifying event).
To be eligible for PFL benefit payments, you must:
- Need time off of work to participate in a qualifying event because of a family member’s military deployment to a foreign country. A family member is a spouse, registered domestic partner, parent, or child.
- Have worked in California and paid into State Disability Insurance (SDI) (noted as “CASDI” on most paystubs) in the past 5 to 18 months.
- Not have taken the maximum eight weeks of PFL in the past 12 months.
Visit Eligibility Requirements to learn more about qualifying for PFL.
Citizenship and immigration status do not affect eligibility.