Maternity Leave FAQ

Yes. Maternity disability is covered under Stanford’s Voluntary Disability Insurance (VDI) plan for residents of California or short-term disability if outside of California. If you have questions about how the VDI plan works, please refer to the Voluntary Disability FAQ on Cardinal at Work. 

Yes, but your benefit may be subject to a pre-existing condition clause and limited to the state rate. This is a California requirement and not a Stanford policy. For additional information, refer to the VDI Statement of Coverage on the Voluntary Disability Insurance page.

For a typical pregnancy, women are usually certified as disabled by the doctors for up to four weeks before the due date and up to six weeks after delivery (or eight weeks for a C-section). However, the actual length of your disability will depend on your individual condition.

Complications such as toxemia, history of miscarriage, extreme morning sickness, anemia and other factors could extend the disability period both before and after delivery.

More information on How Maternity Leave Works is below.

Yes. If you are eligible, FMLA provides job protection while VDI or short-term disability may provide income replacement. To be eligible for FMLA, you must have completed one year of employment and worked 1,250 hours at Stanford within the last 12 months.

After you have completed your disability leave, your bonding leave (PFL) and family leave covered by CFRA, you may request a personal leave of absence from your manager. Your department is not obligated to grant this leave. When on a personal leave, you pay the full cost of benefits; there is no university contribution.

Yes. If you submit a life event of birth/adoption of a child, you have the opportunity to change your medical plan. The effective date will be the date of birth/adoption. However, there are things to consider before making this change.

Depending on your current medical plan, leaving that plan may mean that you are responsible for any costs for services received after the date of birth. For example, you are enrolled in the Healthcare + Savings plan and want to change to Kaiser. The delivery of your baby occurred at a non-Kaiser hospital. Kaiser only covers services at a Kaiser facility using Kaiser providers. As a result, you may end up having to pay the cost of the delivery, hospital stay and any postpartum care as you would be considered a Kaiser member effective the date of birth/adoption.

A plan change may also impact the provider from whom you want your child to receive care. You can contact the University HR Service Team if you have questions about the implications of a plan change.

Yes. You may continue all the same benefits while on disability leave except the Dependent Day Care flexible spending account (FSA). We are required to suspend this type of FSA during leave, but you can reactivate your account when you return from leave by calling the University HR Service Team.

Read the Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Summary and Flexible Spending Account (FSA) FAQ on the Flexible Spending Account page.

While on disability or paid family leave, the university contribution continues for your health and life benefits. If you are not receiving any salary or base pay from use of accruals, and therefore do not have anything from which we can deduct your contributions to your benefits, our direct pay administrator, Vita Companies, will send you a coupon book so you can pay your portion of the cost on the 7th and 22nd of each month. Your retirement savings contributions will be suspended when you are no longer receiving a Stanford paycheck.

When on personal leave, you pay the full cost for your health premiums. There is no university contribution to your health and life benefits or to the retirement savings plan. For more information, call the University HR Service Team (877-905-2985)

No. Federal law does not allow you to contribute to, or incur expenses against, a Dependent Day Care FSA while you are on leave. If you have a Dependent Day Care FSA before your leave and you return within the same calendar year, you can start using this account again after you return to work. Stanford Benefits will recalculate your contributions so you meet your original election amount by the end of the calendar year. If you return to work in a new plan year, you forfeit the remaining balance from the previous year but you may establish an FSA for the current year by following the process to make a life event change in the My Benefits portal within 31 days of your return from leave. If you have any questions, call the University HR Service Team (877-905-2985).

Yes. To start a Dependent Day Care FSA, log into My Benefits and follow the process to make a life event change.

You will not be able to enroll or make changes to a Dependent Day Care FSA until you return to work, and you must do so within 31 days of your return.