Paid Family Leave Advocacy and Implementation
Passing the law is just the first step. We also have to make sure our paid leave laws are implemented appropriately and equitably. In California, most paid leave benefits are administered by the Employment Development Department (EDD), so we work with them to provide feedback and share best practices on implementation. Every year when we expand our paid leave laws, we work together to ensure equitable access for all Californians.
What We Do
Paid Family Leave Advocates work closely with the Employment Development Department (EDD), the state agency in CA that administers Unemployment Insurance (UI), Disability Insurance (SDI), and Paid Family Leave (PFL). The EDD administers PFL and SDI benefits under the Disability Insurance Branch.
PFL Advocates meet with the EDD on a quarterly basis to advocate for key issues and provide feedback to the EDD.
Who We Are
PFL Advocates is a group of coalition partners and members who work on identifying and addressing administrative barriers that claimants encounter during the Paid Family Leave (PFL) and State Disability Insurance (SDI) application process.
Please contact Natasha Castro (she/her) at natasha@workfamilyca.org for more information.
Overarching Priorities
Each year, PFL Advocates meet to discuss, nominate, and address priorities that we will focus on for the year. The discussion starts at the California Work & Family Coalition Annual Statewide Meeting and continues in our PFL Advocates planning meetings.
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It is important for advocates to provide feedback to EDD on the best way to ensure PFL legislation is implemented appropriately, equitably, and timely.
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Barriers that disproportionately impact undocumented workers' access to PFL/SDI especially social security number requirements and other forms of verification.
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Language barriers that impact equitable access to PFL/SDI especially those that affect speakers of Indigenous languages and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) community.
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Barriers encountered by both claimants and healthcare providers during the medical certification process that impact access to PFL/SDI.
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Gender-neutral language respects diversity and promotes equality. The goal is to have EDD use terms that avoid the gender binary and assumptions about gender, and for EDD to add FAQ's about PFL/SDI for gender affirming care and/or language that includes LGBTQ+ families to their website.
What are Administrative Barriers?
The barriers that claimants encounter during the PFL and SDI application process, from filling out the application up until receiving payments.
PFL Advocates aim to address barriers that impact historically marginalized communities in California, specifically workers who earn low wages, undocumented workers, speakers of non-dominant languages, and Indigenous speakers.
Long wait times to reach the EDD through their phone lines
Applications and forms that are difficult to understand
Accessibility issues for resources and interpretation in different language
If applying without an SSN, you can only apply using the paper application
Past Wins
Protecting Immigrant and Undocumented Claimants
Citizenship and immigration status do not affect the eligibility of Paid Family Leave and State Disability Insurance benefits. If you are an undocumented worker in California, you can apply for PFL and SDI benefits, even if you do not have a Social Security number (SSN).
PFL Advocates have worked with EDD to improve their immigration enforcement protocols for local EDD offices, such as displaying signage, and keeping claimant information confidential.
Improving Language Justice and Access
Language barriers impact equitable access to PFL/SDI especially those that affect speakers of Indigenous languages and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) community. Many workers in CA speak a language other than English; with workers earning low-wages disproportionately having limited English proficiency.
Through partnership with EDD we have worked with them to establish a new call center platform that has the capability to support more languages, encouraged the EDD to create more multilingual materials and resources in the most common languages, and provide interpretation services in more indigenous languages and variants.
Join PFL Advocates!
Let’s work together to make Paid Family Leave and State Disability Insurance more accessible.
Make a Donation to the California Work & Family Coalition today!
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