“Workers’ comp or State Disability Insurance?”

They are two different programs, paid by different people, for different injuries. If your job hurt you, the claim is workers’ comp. State Disability Insurance (SDI) comes in when comp is not paying. Below: what each one is, when SDI pays for a work injury, how EDD is repaid if comp later accepts, the rule that can let SDI pay the difference, and why Paid Family Leave is something else.

Two programs, two different questions

Workers’ compensation is your employer’s obligation. Liability for compensation exists against the employer, “without regard to negligence,” for an injury “arising out of and in the course of the employment.” EDD’s own list of what workers’ comp pays: medical care, temporary disabilityTD / TTD / TPD Temporary Disability, Total or Partial. Wage replacement while recovering. Two-thirds of average weekly earnings; 2026 maximum $1,764.11/week., permanent disabilityPD Permanent Disability. Compensation for lasting impairment. A different and much lower weekly rate — 2026 maximum $290/week., supplemental job displacement benefits and death benefits.

State Disability Insurance is a state program you pay into from your own paycheck. It shows on your paystub as “CASDI.” Its Disability Insurance (DI) benefit is short-term wage replacement, and EDD describes it as the program for an illness or injury that is not work-related, including pregnancy, childbirth, surgery and recovery from alcohol or drug addiction.

How the 2026 temporary disability rates work.

Not everyone pays into SDI. For work for a public entity, the law counts only four kinds of service toward SDI: at a health care district hospital, at a public housing agency, state employment to the extent § 2781 provides, and work covered by an elective coverage agreement. Look for “CASDI” on your paystub. EDD requires at least $300 in base-period wages with SDI withheld.

A work injury is a workers’ comp claim

If you were hurt at work, start with the comp claim, not with EDD. EDD’s own examples of a workers’ comp injury include a fall, a chemical burn, a car accident while making deliveries, a hand or back hurt by repeated motion, and hearing lost to constant noise.

Report it to your employer. The law requires written notice within thirty days of the injury, and EDD tells people the same: report a work injury as soon as possible, because waiting past 30 days can affect your benefits.

File the claim form. The employer must give you a claim form within one working day of learning of an injury that costs you time beyond your shift or needs more than first aid. Filing it starts two things that matter: the employer must authorize up to $10,000 in treatment within one working day while it decides, and if it does not reject the claim within 90 days, the injury is presumed compensable. My claim is delayed. · The DWC-1 claim form.

Not sure it was the job? EDD suggests asking your doctor. If it may be work-related, report it anyway. A carrier calling it non-industrial is a position, not a ruling. They say it’s not work-related.

When SDI pays for a work injury

The rule is no double pay for the same day. Unemployment Insurance Code § 2629(a): an individual is not eligible for disability benefits “for any day of unemployment and disability for which he or she has received, or is entitled to receive, ‘other benefits’ in the form of cash payments.” Under § 2629(b), “other benefits” means temporary disability under a workers’ comp law of California, another state or the federal government, temporary disability under an employer’s liability law, and permanent disability for the same injury.

But EDD lists the exceptions itself. You may be eligible for full or partial SDI when:

• your employer or its insurer denies workers’ comp benefits;
• your employer or its insurer delays them;
• your weekly comp benefit is less than your weekly DI benefit, in which case you may get the difference; or
• your comp benefits cover only medical expenses.

EDD’s advice when you are unsure is to file the DI claim and let EDD decide.

What EDD does when you apply

The law sets out the procedure:

• EDD makes an initial determination of whether you are entitled to comp benefits.
• If it thinks you are, it notifies you and your employer. Your notice tells you that DI will be paid pending comp if the employer does not agree to pay within 14 days of the notification.
• The notice to your employer counts. It “shall constitute a claim for compensation and knowledge of an injury” for purposes of Labor Code § 5402.
• Payment has a deadline too. DI must begin within 14 days after the notice to the employer or insurer, unless it has paid or agreed to start paying comp.
• A dispute goes to the Appeals Board. If the employer or insurer disputes liability, EDD’s right to be reimbursed is subject to the jurisdiction of the Workers’ Compensation Appeals BoardWCAB Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board. The court system that decides these cases. 23 district offices statewide..

File your own claim form anyway. The 90-day presumption in § 5402(b) runs from the date the claim form is filed. Do not leave your comp claim resting on a notice EDD sends.

If comp later accepts: how EDD is repaid

You are not paid twice for the same days. EDD is repaid from the comp side, by one of two routes.

Directly by the employer. An employer or insurer that later accepts liability, or is found liable, is assessed by EDD for the DI it paid in place of comp, plus interest, and must reimburse EDD within 60 days of accepting liability or of a final award. If the Appeals Board finds the employer’s failure to pay on EDD’s notice unreasonable, the employer also owes EDD a 10 percent penalty, unless a penalty for the delay was already awarded. Those charges fall on the employer.

Through a lien in your comp case. The law lets the Appeals Board allow a lien for disability benefits EDD paid “pending a determination” of whether comp was owed, and the law says how:

• Once EDD gives the insurer written notice, its claim is a lien against “any amount thereafter payable as temporary or permanent disability compensation,” subject to the Appeals Board’s approval.
• The amount is limited. The Board allows the lien for DI paid for the same days for which temporary disability, or permanent disability resulting solely from the same injury, is awarded, and which the employer has not already reimbursed.
• The insurer has to keep EDD informed: within 15 working days after starting disability payments, and within 10 working days of filing an application, a stipulated award or a compromise and releaseC&R — Compromise and Release A lump sum that closes future medical treatment permanently..
• In a settlement, you and the defendant may propose how much of a compromise and release goes to EDD. If EDD objects, the judge decides.

What that means for you: the comp benefits for days SDI already covered go to repay EDD, up to what SDI paid. Note that the lien can be paid from permanent disability for the same injury, not only from temporary disability. Ask about the EDD lien before you settle, and ask for the net in writing. What comes out of your settlement. · I got a letter about a lien.

The difference rule: when SDI pays alongside comp

Comp being paid does not always end SDI. If the “other benefits” are less than the DI you would otherwise receive, you are entitled, if otherwise eligible, to DI for that day “reduced by the amount of these ‘other benefits.’” Section 2629(d) applies the same rule to permanent disability indemnity.

Why it comes up: temporary disability is two-thirds of your average weekly wage. EDD figures DI at about 70% to 90% of base-period wages, depending on income. The two are calculated from different wage figures, so compare the actual numbers, but the DI amount can be the higher one. When it is, EDD says you may qualify for the difference.

Tell EDD what comp pays you. EDD requires people receiving DI to report workers’ compensation benefits, and warns that unreported income leads to overpayments, penalties or a false statement disqualification.

Paid Family Leave is something else

Paid Family Leave is not a benefit for your own injury. It is the same SDI program’s family benefit: the Unemployment Insurance Code calls it Family Temporary Disability Insurance and provides that it “shall be known as Paid Family Leave” (§ 3300(b)). EDD pays it to people who take time off to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill family member, or support a family member’s military deployment abroad: up to 8 weeks in a 12-month period, at $50 to $1,765 a week.

If PFL was paid to you for days you also receive temporary total disability, EDD has the same kind of lien against the comp award.

If a family member stops work to care for you, whether PFL fits their situation is a question for EDD. They apply on their own claim. I need help at home.

Before you apply: five practical points

1. Mind EDD’s window. EDD says to wait nine days after your disability starts to file, and to file within 49 days of the start date to avoid disqualification. Your doctor’s certification is also due within 49 days.

2. Disclose the comp claim. EDD’s application asks for any workers’ compensation claim information. Give it, accurately.

3. Keep one consistent account. DI requires a doctor to certify that you cannot do your regular work. Unemployment requires you to certify that you can work. You cannot honestly claim both for the same days. Can I get unemployment instead?

4. Ask about a special base period. If you received workers’ comp during your base period, EDD says to contact DI, because a special base period may be available for an industrial disability.

5. SDI does not stop the comp clock. Proceedings for comp benefits generally must be started within one year of the injury, the last disability payment, or the last medical treatment provided. Your deadlines.

EDD publishes its pages on both programs in Spanish as well as English.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get State Disability for a work injury?

In limited situations. EDD lists them: your comp claim is denied or delayed, your weekly comp benefit is lower than DI (you may get the difference), or comp is covering only medical expenses. If you are unsure, EDD says to file and let it decide.

Will I have to pay EDD back?

EDD is repaid from the comp side: by the employer or insurer that accepts the claim, or through a lien the Appeals Board approves against the temporary or permanent disability awarded for the same days. The lien is limited to the DI paid for those days.

My comp check is smaller than SDI would be. Can SDI make up the difference?

Possibly. If the comp benefit for a day is less than your DI, you can receive DI for that day reduced by the comp amount, if you are otherwise eligible.

Does SDI protect my job?

No. EDD says disability benefits do not provide job protection, though the federal Family and Medical Leave Act or the California Family Rights Act may. On the comp side, the law bars punishing you for filing a claim. Can I be fired while on workers’ comp?

Is Paid Family Leave the same thing?

No. Paid Family Leave pays you to bond with a new child, care for a seriously ill family member, or support a family member’s military deployment. It does not pay for your own injury.

We handle claims in English, Spanish, and Korean. If your comp claim is denied or delayed and you are living on SDI, the consultation is free and commits you to nothing.