Before you meet with HR
Your HR team isn't hiding anything. They were never trained on this.
HR is trained on company policy and federal law. California adds 4 programs on top, each with its own rules, forms, and timelines.
PDL
Pregnancy Disability Leave. Job protection while you're pregnant and recovering.
CFRA
California's bonding leave law. The 12 weeks HR usually quotes.
SDI
State Disability Insurance. The paycheck while you recover.
PFL
Paid Family Leave. The paycheck while you bond.
Most HR teams handle a few pregnancies a year. Being a California leave expert was never part of their job. Which means the person with the most at stake in getting this right is you.
The good news: this is one conversation, and it goes well when you walk in prepared. Parents who do this tell us the same thing afterward: HR was relieved. You walked in with your dates, they took notes, and you made their job easier.
The Leave Blueprint gives you the exact questions for that meeting, and the plan behind them: your full timeline mapped from your due date, and a live call every week for 12 months, so you can prep your HR conversation with an expert before you have it.
Education, not legal advice.
