You must log into SDI Online and submit Part A (Claimant's Statement). The moment you hit submit, the EDD system generates a 14-digit Form Receipt Number (often starting with an "R"). You must give this number to us so we can log into our own SDI account, enter the number, and link your medical certification to your claim.

California State Disability Insurance (SDI) has a mandatory, unpaid 7-day waiting period. Benefits do not begin until the 8th day of the disability. If have to take off work for a week or less, filing an EDD claim is pointless because the state will not pay anything for those first 7 days.

For brief absences (e.g., 1 to 3 days for a minor illness or sprain), a simple work note stating you (the patient) is excused from work until a specific date is standard. The state expects you to use your accrued sick leave or PTO through your employer to cover the time.

Official leave paperwork is not just for month-long absences. Under the law, an employer's right to request FMLA/CFRA paperwork is usually triggered when an employee has a "serious health condition," which is generally defined as an incapacity lasting more than 3 consecutive calendar days coupled with ongoing medical treatment.

If a patient needs 10 days off for a moderate injury, for example, they will only receive 3 days of actual EDD pay due to the elimination period, but that CFRA form is still highly necessary to legally protect their employment while they recover.

No, not unless you explicitly authorize it. California law strictly prohibits doctors from disclosing a patient's underlying diagnosis on an employer form without the patient's explicit written consent. The federal FMLA form prompts the provider for "medical facts" and the underlying diagnosis, but California's CFRA explicitly forbids employers from asking for a diagnosis or the specific nature of the medical condition without the patient's explicit written consent.

The standard CFRA form is specifically designed to comply with California's strict privacy laws and prevents employer overreach. To protect your job, the employer only legally needs three things from us: the date the condition commenced, the probable duration of the condition, and a simple statement that you are currently unable to perform the essential functions of your job.

No. Employers will often send excessively detailed, custom questionnaires. By law, they must accept any medical certification that contains the legally required information: the date the condition commenced, the probable duration of the condition, and a simple statement that the employee is currently unable to perform the essential functions of their job.

You can ignore their packet and instead have our office fill out the standard California Civil Rights Department CFRA certification. When treating a patient in California, this CFRA certification is the standard we use.

No. Under CFRA, employers are strictly prohibited from contacting a healthcare provider for any reason other than to authenticate that the form actually came from our office. Under federal FMLA, an employer's HR department can contact a provider to "clarify" the medical certification, but California CFRA protections eliminate these clarification calls.

No "Clarification" Calls: Under federal FMLA, an employer's HR department can contact you to "clarify" the medical certification. Under CFRA, employers are strictly prohibited from contacting a healthcare provider for any reason other than to authenticate that the form actually came from your office.