How to go about getting paid on maternity leave

amother

Mon, Mar 25 2024, 10:53 pm

I live in NJ and work in NY.
Gonna be going on maternity leave soon bezh but I’m not sure how to go about getting paid. Do I use disability or paid family leave or something else? Is the paperwork I fill out from NY or NJ?
When do I complete the paperwork? When is the earliest that I could submit the paperwork and start getting paid?
Thanks in advance!!

amother

Arcticblue

Mon, Mar 25 2024, 11:49 pm

amother OP wrote:

Does paid family leave pay better than disability?

I got paid full disability pay for 6-8 weeks post partum (followed by PFL) so I’ll say not in my experience. PFL is about 2/3 pay (capped )

amother

Orange

Mon, Mar 25 2024, 11:58 pm

amother OP wrote:

Does paid family leave pay better than disability?

I live in NY. I received about $700 in total from disability, I think its like $170 a week for 6 weeks. PFL I only received 2 cheques so far- one was for like $1200 and the second was $2072.

amother

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 12:01 am

amother Orange wrote:

I live in NY. I received about $700 in total from disability, I think its like $170 a week for 6 weeks. PFL I only received 2 cheques so far- one was for like $1200 and the second was $2072.

You received both for one maternity leave? Or are you referring to 2 different times?

amother

Chestnut

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 12:01 am

amother Arcticblue wrote:

I got paid full disability pay for 6-8 weeks post partum (followed by PFL) so I’ll say not in my experience. PFL is about 2/3 pay (capped )

Curious. I don't know the rules where you live. But how does having a baby make you disabled?

amother

Orange

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 12:07 am

amother OP wrote:

You received both for one maternity leave? Or are you referring to 2 different times?

Yes I received both for one baby. I was told you can get disability and then PFL. But you have to take disability first. Ill be doing 6 weeks disability + 7 weeks (out of 12 for PFL) and the leftover 5 weeks of PFL Ill take over the summer

amother

Rose

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 12:14 am

amother Chestnut wrote:

Curious. I don't know the rules where you live. But how does having a baby make you disabled?

Huh? disability definitely covers the postpartum period because you can't work then. I never heard of a disability plan that does not cover postpartum

amother

Obsidian

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 7:03 am

amother Orange wrote:

I live in NY. I received about $700 in total from disability, I think its like $170 a week for 6 weeks. PFL I only received 2 cheques so far- one was for like $1200 and the second was $2072.

If she's in NJ she can file disability in NJ and PFL in NY

Disability in NJ pays more than disability I'm NY.

OP reach out to LRRC for specifics

Highstrung

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 7:06 am

amother Orange wrote:

You can do both for the same baby but need to do it one after the other , not simultaneously. In NY PFL is definitely more than disability .

amother

Raspberry

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 7:12 am

amother OP wrote:

Disability only pays up to about $150 a week for a 6 week period, although they only pay 5 out of those 6 weeks.

Paid Family Leave pays up to 12 weeks in the first year, around 2/3rds of your paycheck (though there is a cap).

If you can afford to get paid around $750 total for the first month and a half, it is possible to first take disability and then follow that by PFL (many people skip disability since it doesn't cover their needs and go straight to PFL).

You don't have to take all 12 weeks of PFL at once. Can be taken within the first year after baby is born.

New York info.

amother

Camellia

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 2:30 pm

I know someone that has the opposite - Lives in NY and works in NJ. and she's having issues because the NJ PFL doesnt cover NY employees. and the company never had a NY PFL policy bc they are a NJ company. So far she didnt get any coverage from PFL only disability since the state of NJ pays the disability ( no need for a separate policy).

I couldn't afford to live off $170 a week, being that my paycheck is my only income; I skipped the disability and went straight to PFL.

greenteaorange

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 2:49 pm

You get ny disability for six weeks 160/week for 5 weeks
Then u can take 12 weeks ny pfl anytime after the disability
Or u can choose not to do disability and just do pfl

amother

Pewter

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 2:55 pm

amother Camellia wrote:

Were they taking money out of her check for PFL insurance? She should get that money back at least.

amother

Mulberry

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 3:29 pm

amother Pewter wrote:

Were they taking money out of her check for PFL insurance? She should get that money back at least.

Pfl is a NY state sponsored plan and everyone has it taken off their paycheck, just like you get Medicare, Medicaid etc taken off. It's a few dollars.

Op, this is going back about 15 years but when I worked in New York and lived in New Jersey I filed all my disability in New York. They also had the same very low disability payout but in those days they didn't have paid family leave so we only got the $150 per week.

So I'll echo the rest of the posters who are saying that you should go straight to Family Leave unless you plan to take off more than 12 weeks.

In New Jersey we get a lot more for disability so it's worth it to First Take 6 weeks of disability and then you can get up to another 12 weeks on top of that of Paid Family Leave, technically.

amother

Arcticblue

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 5:04 pm

amother Chestnut wrote:

Curious. I don't know the rules where you live. But how does having a baby make you disabled?

In my workplace when you’re out for medical reason for more than 5 days (1 week) it’s under disability. Plus my last birth was CS so that was 8 weeks disability (vag birth is 6 weeks)

greenteaorange

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 5:34 pm

amother Chestnut wrote:

Curious. I don't know the rules where you live. But how does having a baby make you disabled?

Giving birth is a disability
8 weeks for c section
6 weeks for vaginal
In New York
You are disabled and cannot work after birth.
This is not some scam this is literally New York rules post birth

amother

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 11:20 pm

amother Obsidian wrote:

If she's in NJ she can file disability in NJ and PFL in NY

Disability in NJ pays more than disability I'm NY.

OP reach out to LRRC for specifics

Thank you, this is super helpful. Will do!

amother

Tue, Mar 26 2024, 11:25 pm

Does anyone know if I could get disability from NJ, and at the same time get PFL from NY? Or if I’m doing it from 2 different states, I still can’t get the payments at the same time?