California’s State Disability Insurance

The state of California has a disability insurance which provides temporarily disabled workers with their much needed benefits while they are unable to work.

The state disability insurance differs with Workers' compensation insurance which covers workers for their long-term and short-term illness or disability that has been incurred or has developed while working.

In SDI, the worker’s partial wage is covered if he is unable to work because of an illness or a condition that is not i9ncurred from work and is determined to last for only a short period of time.

The disability may be either physical or mental and can be acquired from child birth, surgery, pregnancy, or any such medical condition. It is important to apply for these benefits as soon as possible as the application process will last up to 14 days and so every single day counts.

The premiums for SDI are paid by Californian through their payroll or state taxes. The state funds for SDI are from employees, and sometimes, employers who wish to do so.

Those who are self-employed can also be covered by SDI and will receive benefits once they’ve become disabled by enrolling in elective coverage and paying premiums based on his earnings in the previous year.

Almost all workers are eligible for state disability insurance except for:

• Workers who claimed religious exemption

• Interstate Railroad workers

• Some government workers

• Some non-profit and domestic workers

SDI does not come with any health insurance coverage and only provides a certain portion of the worker’s wage. A disabled worker can receive 55% of his wage depending on his base period.

Base period is calculated by going back between the 17-month and 5-month period before the disability was incurred. The 12 months will be used as the base period and will be divided into four and the quarter where the highest salary was earned will be used to determine the benefit to be received.

The longevity of the benefits will be determined by the physician’s diagnosis of the worker’s condition. The physician may extend the rehabilitation program of the worker for up to 52 weeks and up to 39 weeks for the self-employed who only has elective coverage.

However, a worker can receive partial benefits longer than 52 weeks if he has acquired a job or other source of income. For more information, it is best to get in touch with state personnel who can explain the application process and why an application has been denied.