Employees Covered by SEIU and LIUNA Memorandums of Understanding now included in the State Disability Insurance (SDI) Program
IMPORTANT NOTE: This notice is for regular employees covered by the SEIU and LIUNA Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) ONLY. This information does not apply to employees covered by the Management Resolution, Ordinance 440, or other Memorandums of Understanding.
The current Services Employees’ International Union (SEIU), Local 721 and the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), Local 777 Tentative Agreements (TA), both contain provisions directing the County to submit applications for coverage under the California State Disability Insurance (SDI) program for employees covered by the respective MOUs.
On March 22, 2021, the Employment Development Department (EDD) approved the County’s final application for coverage for State Disability Insurance (SDI), including Paid Family Leave (PFL).
Effective March 25, 2021 (Pay Period 8/2021), all regular employees in bargaining units covered by SEIU and LIUNA will have SDI taxes withheld from their paycheck dated April 21, 2021. Each pay period, 1.2% your taxable wages will be reported to the SDI program. SDI taxes are paid on taxable income up to $128,298 a year.
To estimate how this tax will impact your paycheck, multiply your total taxable wages by the current SDI rate of 1.2%, or 0.0120. For example, an employee who receives $1,000 in taxable wages would be subject to a $12 SDI tax.
Employee SDI tax contributions go to a state fund used to pay SDI and PFL benefits to eligible individuals. Most employees will need to contribute SDI tax for at least 6 months before they have sufficient wages subject to the tax in the specific 12-month Base Period. A claim base period is determined by the date your SDI claim begins. If you have contributed to SDI through another employer, you may be eligible for a benefit sooner.
Employees hired on or before April 1, 2021, will continue to be eligible for disability benefits under the County’s current Short-Term Disability (STD) plan, or Long-Term Disability (LTD) for SEIU Supervisory employees, until they have had sufficient wages subject to the SDI tax to complete a full quarter in a base period.
Claims will be coordinated during this period between the existing STD/LTD plans and the SDI program. Employees hired in the SEIU and LIUNA bargaining groups after April 1, 2021 will receive all benefits only through the State of California SDI program.
Additional information is coming soon to help you better understand how this change impacts you and your disability coverage. For information about how the SDI program works, please refer to the EDD Disability Insurance Provisions brochure.
Link: EDD Disability Insurance Provisions brochure