State disability funds

[Guest HRBeth]

I've heard that an employer can replace the state disability fund in California with a voluntary plan, but can't find any information describing how to do this.

Anyone have any experience with this? I live in Pennsylvania and my employer just acquired a company with about 100 California employees. This is unknown territory for me so any suggestions would be appreciated!

[KIP KRAUS]

My recollection of California disability law is that you can replace the state fund with a commercial plan provided a majority of the covered employees agree to do it.

I recommend contacting the California state fund. They will be able to give you the details.

[mroberts]

I also agree to contact the state fund for the specifics. I have worked with many accounts with employees in CA, and they have all left it to the state to handle the disability. Trying to coordinate the benefits with both the state and carrier can sometimes be a headache.

[Kirk Maldonado]

My recollection is that this issue usually comes up when the employer wants to self-fund the benefits. I seem to recall that the standards for self-funding are quite rigorous.

However, it was many, many years since this came up, so the rules may have changed or my memory may have faded (or both).