Hello! I moved from New York to California in Sept 08 at 25 weeks pregnant. I was working as a full time salaried employee for my NY employer. I am now working on a part-time hourly wage basis for the same NY employer (working remotely from home). I have been paying CA state income tax since moving to CA, but that's all.

I am now 34 weeks pregnant. Am I eligible for the CA disability/family bonding benefits associated with pregnancy? I suspect that I might not be because neither my NY company, nor myself pays into the CA disability funding. Is this correct?

:confused:

First of all, if you are working in California, even from home, the employer has established nexus (a business presence) in the state and is required to deduct CA SDI from your pay (unless they have an state-approved voluntary plan).

In NY, the employer must have provided disability insurance coverage to you, but is not required to pass on any of the premiums to the employee. Since you do not work in NY any more, though, you would not be eligible for NY DI benefits.

You can try filing in CA, but even if the employer HAD deducted the tax, it's unlikely with such a short period of CA employment, you would have enough subject wages to be eligible for benefits. Filing might, however, force the employer to explain why they aren't deducting the tax as required.

Interesting. I wonder why they wouldn't be deducting the SDI from my check. Seeing as how I very likely haven't worked enough to collect benefits, I will probably not bother filing.

Thank you for your response!

But what happens if you do need SDI benefits at some time in the future when you DO have enough wages/have worked there long enough, and the state has no record of you?

Your choice, of course, but I might file anyway, for the reason stated above and as mentioned in my previous response.

Good point. I will talk to my HR rep and payroll clerk. According to the law, there should be no reason that they aren't deducting the SDI from my check, correct? The fact that they are a New York based company, etc....doesn't eliminate this requirement for them?

(I'm sure their response will be: "we're based in New York, so we're not required to contribute to California SDI.")

The fact that they are withholding CA income tax implies that they know they were required register as an employer in CA.

You can search the Employer's Tax Guide here, but I don't know of any reason they would not have to deduct the tax and report your wages to CA for both SDI and UI.
http://www.edd.ca.gov/pdf_pub_ctr/de44.pdf