Frequently, in my prenatal classes, which include postpartum and breastfeeding topics along with labor and delivery, couples explore how to manage the time after the birth. They learn about the fulltime needs of the newborn, the lengthier time for recovery than possibly planned for, how to gather help and support, and the changes in priorities and emotions after becoming a parent.
I spoke with Akiko Thayer, owner of Maternityleave411 – a consultation business with the goal of helping each individual maximize their maternity and paternity leave. In addition to a Psychology degree, Akiko is a Certified Management Leave Specialist with a California Law HR Specialty credential. Akiko’s website and stated mission include the following: “Understanding the ins-and-outs of maternity and paternity leave in California can be a confusing, frustrating, and intimidating process. Every new parent wants to spend as much time as possible at home with their baby. However, trying to maximizing the length of maternity/paternity leave in California can be especially complicated since the duration of leave can be different for each person. While California provides strong protections for expectant employees, navigating leave in California becomes especially challenging due to the complex interaction between the various state and federal laws. Also, California is one of few states that provide wage replacement through State Disability Insurance (SDI) and Paid Family Leave (PFL) to eligible employees, adding another layer of leave benefits to decipher. Further, working with HR representatives who are not familiar with leave laws in general, or dealing with out-of-state employers who are not well-versed in California state leave laws can make the process of planning your leave even more difficult.
Since 2015, I’ve helped hundreds of expectant parents understand how much leave they are eligible to take and for how long they will be paid while out on leave – even when their HR representatives were saying otherwise. My mission is to empower employees with knowledge of their leave rights, as well as paid leave options, so they can have productive, efficient, and accurate conversations regarding their leave with their employers.”
After Akiko had her first child in 2014, she experienced firsthand the confusion of navigating the system in order to identify her eligibility for benefits and time off. Despite the information provided by her large company’s HR department, Akiko discovered that she had been shortchanged by 8 weeks (some paid, some unpaid). Luckily, she was able to contest the error and receive her time.
Akiko told me that the major problem is that HR representatives are often not familiar with how California laws interact with federal laws. She came to realize that we must consider all the laws that are applicable. Not every state has their own statutory laws, but California does. Thus, everything varies from the state to state down to individual to individual. If you reside and pay taxes in California, California leave laws will apply to you.
Since starting her parental leave consulting business in 2016, she speculates anecdotally that approximately over 50% of her clients are unaware or misinformed of their covered benefits: “The process is so difficult. Details make it complicated and convoluted. So often I hear moms say ‘I had to go back to work after ….’ They just didn’t know. My goal is for moms to be fully in the know of what their legal rights are – they can then maximize or elect to go back sooner.”
Akiko summarized the two major components of our system of maternity leave. One portion is job-protection, and the other is wage replacement. How your job is protected during your maternity leave is through unpaid leave laws – whether federal or state. How you are going to be paid will typically be by a state benefit like California disability or employer-provided benefits. The leave laws and wage replacement run concurrently, but in most cases, you won’t be paid for the entire duration of your leave. For example, in California, the duration of post-birth, job-protected leave might be 18 weeks, but you might be paid for only 14 weeks of that.
There are two main California leave laws that are applicable to maternity leave. Pregnancy Disability Leave (PDL) and the California Familt Rights Act (CFRA). You must work for an employer with at least 5 employees to be eligible for PDL. That’s the only requirement.
Qualifying for the California Family Rights Act (CFRA) requires the following criteria: one is working for an employer with over 5 employees, has worked there for at least 12 monthsyear, and has worked 1,250 hours in the past year (24.5 hrs per week). PDL provides up to 17.3 workweeks (4 months), as medically necessary, of unpaid job-protected leave for pregnancy disability, childbirth recovery, and other related conditions. The typical duration of disability for an uncomplicated pregnancy and childbirth is 10 or 12 weeks (4 weeks before your estimated due date and 6 weeks after a vaginal delivery, or 8 weeks after a c-section). Following the end of PDL, CFRA provides an additional 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected bonding leave. A CFRA-qualifying employee will them eligible for a minimum of 18 weeks post-birth job protection. This is calculated, for a vaginal birth, as 6 weeks “birth recovery” + 12 weeks “baby bonding” time. After a c-section, she receives 8 weeks “birth recovery” + 12 weeks “baby bonding.”
Both PDL and CFRA provide unpaid job protection. However, employees can utilize wage replacement programs, like Callifornia Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave, to pay themselves during unpaid PDL and CFRA.
To receive these state benefits, a woman must have been paying into the SDI tax (state disability insurance, a normal payroll deduction for a W-2 employee). However, public employees like teachers, or city, county, or government employees, may not have paid into it and are not going to get that benefit. They will be relying on other kinds of benefits, such as union-provided paid leave, private short term disability policy, or accrued time.
Parents who are not recovering from childbirth, uncluding fathers, adoptive parents, intended parents through surrogacy, and other non-birthing parents, may also be eligible for CFRA bonding leave. If the father/non-birthing parent qualifies for CFRA, they receive 12 weeks of job protection (within a year after the birth) and if they’ve been paying into the SDA tax, they get 8 weeks of paid leave from California within that 12 weeks of job protection.
“Paid” leave, however, does not mean you’re getting your full paycheck. California paid benefits provide around 70% of your regular wages. However, benefits are capped at $1,765 per week. If an annual salary is over $130K, it will max out at that amount. So, high income earners will get less than 70% of regular wages because they are hitting the cap. A lower income wage may end up receiving closer to 90% of their salary.
Because the U.S. government has no federal paid maternity leave policy, every employer can make their own rules, and they vary quite a bit. Since it is not law-mandated, employers can decide the length of time and the terms they choose to give. Some provide none. Less than half of employers provide a private policy. Larger companies, who are looking to recruit and retain, may offer better, more competitive benefits (up to an additional 16-20 weeks), while smaller companies (less than 50 people), may provide anywhere from 2-12 weeks of paid leave.
Akiko looks at the details and reviews documents with a fine-tooth comb. She presents her clients with the specifics of how their leave maxes out, when and how it is paid. If there are any discrepancies with HR, she helps the navigation process – drafting emails, providing talking points, instructing on what questions to ask. HR departments may not know everything there is to know, they may make mistakes, they may be trying to protect the company. Though people believe that HR is authority, missteps often happen there.
Compared with most wealthy countries, the U.S. is a major outlier on maternity leave.
The key difference is that the United States has no federally mandated paid maternity leave. By contrast, nearly every other industrialized country guarantees paid leave through national law.
Here’s a broad comparison among OECD (wealthy developed) countries:
| Country/Region | Typical Paid Leave |
| United States | 0 weeks federally guaranteed paid leave |
| OECD average | ~18–19 weeks paid maternity leave |
| Canada | Up to 15 weeks maternity + extended parental leave |
| UK | Up to 39 weeks paid |
| Sweden | Extensive shared parental leave (~69 weeks combined) |
| Norway | ~49 weeks at full pay optio |
| Estonia | Among the world’s longest (~82 weeks parental leave) |
Several states — including California, New York, and Massachusetts — have their own paid family leave systems, which makes the U.S. a patchwork rather than a unified national system.
Internationally, the U.S. is often described as the only OECD country without national paid maternity leave, and one of only a handful of countries globally with no guaranteed paid maternity program at the federal level. It is disheartening and detrimental that labor and delivery services do not support time for early parenthood during the postpartum period.
Another major difference is duration. In many European countries, parents commonly take 6 months to 1 year of partially paid leave, and job protection is stronger and more universal. European systems generally treat paid leave as a national social insurance benefit, while the U.S. has historically relied more on employers to provide benefits voluntarily.
Akiko’s individualized consultation service includes:
- A thorough review of your federal and state leave entitlements, along with a review of your employer’s leave policy (if any) to ensure you’re getting the maximum amount of maternity/paternity leave.
- A thorough review of your state wage replacement options (SDI and/or PFL), your employer’s paid leave policy (if any), as well as other wages including accrued sick, PTO and vacation time to maximize the duration of paid time during your maternity/paternity leave.
- Fully customized maternity/paternity leave timeline.
- A 60-minute phone consultation that will leave you with a clear understanding of the time off and income that you can receive during your leave, so you’re fully equipped to speak with your HR/employer about your maternity/paternity leave plans.
- On-going support throughout your maternity/paternity leave process, including filing for state wage replacement benefits (SDI/PFL), completing HR forms, and steering conversations with HR.
For further information and more resources, check out https://www.instagram.com/maternityleave411/