Eligibility

• Eligibility requirements for pregnancy-related benefits are the same as for other claims. You must be employed or actively looking for work when you become disabled and, if employed, you must have lost wages because of the disability. You must be unable to carry out your usual work for at least eight days and be under a doctor's care during that time. You must meet minimum earnings requirements and apply for benefits within 49 days of becoming disabled.
  
  

Disqualification

• Certain factors may disqualify you from receiving disability benefits. You may not collect unemployment benefits or paid family leave benefits while you are being paid disability insurance benefits. If you are receiving Workers' Compensation benefits that are equal to or greater than your disability benefit, you will not receive the disability. You may also be disqualified if you have no lost wages or if you fail to get an independent medical examination.
  
  

How to Apply

• Select the date that you want to use as the starting date of the claim and complete the "Claim Statement of Employee." Be sure to provide the requested information completely and accurately to avoid delays in the processing of your claim. Have your medical caretaker, who may be a doctor, nurse-midwife, nurse practitioner or licensed midwife, complete and sign the doctor's certificate. Mail the claim to the nearest disability insurance office. (See Resources, below, for forms and mailing addresses.)
  
  

Benefits

• The weekly benefit is about 55 percent of your weekly earnings. Benefits are calculated based on your highest quarter earnings during a "base period" of 12 months. You must have earned at least $300, on which disability insurance tax was paid during one three-month quarter of the base period. You may delay the starting date of your claim to control the dates of the base period. Call (800) 480-3287 for assistance with setting a starting date.
  
  

Paid Family Leave

• The State Disability Insurance program also administers the Paid Family Leave program. Under paid family leave, you may be eligible for insurance benefits that allow you to take a six-week paid leave to bond with your child. Eligibility and the amount of your benefits are calculated in the same way as disability benefits. You may not combine disability and paid leave, but you may take the benefits one after the other.