July 15, 2022

EDD Offers Small Business Grants for PFL Assistance

California’s Paid Family Leave (PFL) program – offered through the California Employment Development Department (EDD) – allows California workers to take paid leave to bond with a new child (through birth, adoption, or foster care) or to care for a seriously ill family member. PFL provides eligible employees with up to 8 weeks of wage replacement benefits when an employee is off work for certain qualifying reasons regardless of business size.

Businesses with employees utilizing PFL may experience increased costs such as those associated with training existing staff or hiring additional staff to cover the duties of the employee on PFL as well as additional marketing, recruitment and other foreseeable training costs. To assist small businesses in offsetting these increased costs the California Employment Training Panel and California Labor and Workforce Development Agency have funded a grant program for small employers. 

The Paid Family Leave Grant Program offers small businesses (e.g., those with 1-100 employees) who have at least one employee utilizing PFL (on or after June 1, 2022) the opportunity to apply for grants up to $2,000 per employee on PFL to offset the increased costs associated with the employee being out on leave.

Additional information on the PFL Grant Program, including Program FAQs, can be found on EDD’s PFL Grant Program website.