Restaurant Worker PFL Calculator California 2026

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Estimated Weekly PFL Benefit — Restaurant Worker · 2026

$485/week

Based on $36,000/year · 8-week total: $3,877

Weekly Benefit

$485

8-Week Total

$3,877

Avg Weekly Wage

$692

Benefit Rate

70%

How This Was Calculated

For a Restaurant Worker earning $36,000/year, EDD calculates your PFL benefit using the highest-quarter method:

Highest Quarter Earnings

$36,000 ÷ 4 = $9,000. Tips reported on your W-2 count toward your PFL benefit base.

Average Weekly Wage (AWW)

$9,000 ÷ 13 weeks = $692/week

Apply Rate: 70%

$692 × 70% = $485/week

Multiply by Weeks

$485 × 8 weeks = $3,877 total

Benefit by Number of Weeks

Leave Duration	Weekly Benefit	Total Benefit
1 week	$485/wk	$485
2 weeks	$485/wk	$969
4 weeks	$485/wk	$1,938
6 weeks	$485/wk	$2,908
8 weeks	$485/wk	$3,877

Only the tips your employer reports count toward PFL

The single most important PFL fact for servers, bartenders, bussers, and cooks is that EDD builds your benefit from the wages your employer reported to the state, and that includes tips only when those tips ran through the payroll system. Credit-card tips, auto-gratuities, and any cash tips you declared to your employer show up on your W-2 and on your CASDI withholding, so they count. Cash tips you pocketed and never reported to anyone do not count, because no SDI was ever withheld on them.

This cuts both ways. A server whose tips are mostly on credit cards (now the norm at most California restaurants) usually has a high reported wage base, so the estimate above may understate what you actually receive. A server who works in a heavily cash house and under-reported tips will see a lower reported quarter than their real take-home, and the PFL benefit follows the reported number, not what you took home.

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Check your W-2 Box 1 and Box 7 before you estimateBox 1 (wages) plus Box 7 (Social Security tips) is roughly the income EDD sees. Total your reported wages for your best 3-month stretch, divide by 13, and use that as your salary-equivalent in the calculator for a far more accurate figure than annual salary ÷ 4.

Most restaurant workers land in the 90% benefit tier

California pays a higher replacement rate to lower earners. If your average weekly wage (AWW) is $1,252.30 or less, PFL replaces 90% of it; above that line the rate drops to 70%. At $36,000/year your AWW is about $692, well under the cutoff, so a restaurant worker at this wage qualifies for the 90% tier, not 70%. The estimate above uses the conservative 70% rate. At the 90% rate the same $692 AWW pays roughly $623/week.

Reported highest quarter	AWW (÷13)	Rate	Weekly benefit
$9,000 (~$36k/yr)	$692	90%	~$623
$12,000	$923	90%	~$831
$16,280	$1,252	90%	~$1,127
$18,000	$1,385	70%	~$969

Notice the table is built from your reported quarter. The more of your tips that went through payroll, the higher that quarter. Because you are in the 90% band, every reported dollar lifts your benefit more than it would for a high earner stuck at 70%.

Seasonal and double shifts can move your best quarter

EDD uses your single highest-earning quarter in the 5-to-18-month base period before your claim, not a yearly average. Restaurant income is rarely even. A strong summer patio season, the December holiday rush, or a stretch of picking up doubles concentrates tips and hours into one quarter. That quarter becomes your benefit base, so a few busy months can raise your weekly check. If you switched restaurants, wages from every employer that withheld SDI in the base period combine.

⚠️

File within 41 days, and confirm job protection separatelyPFL replaces income but does not hold your job on its own. Most restaurant workers at employers with 5 or more employees also have CFRA protection, which runs concurrently with PFL. Apply at edd.ca.gov within 41 days of your first leave day or you can lose benefits.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do tips count toward a restaurant worker's PFL benefit? +

Only tips that were reported to your employer and ran through payroll. Credit-card tips, auto-gratuities, and cash tips you declared appear on your W-2 and have CASDI withheld, so they count toward your PFL wage base. Cash tips you never reported had no SDI withheld and do not count.

Why is a restaurant worker's PFL rate 90% instead of 70%? +

California pays 90% of your average weekly wage if that AWW is $1,252.30 or less, and 70% above it. A restaurant worker earning around $36,000 has an AWW near $692, well under the cutoff, so they fall in the 90% tier. At 90%, a $692 AWW pays roughly $623/week instead of the $485 shown at the conservative 70% rate.

My cash tips were higher than my paycheck — which number does EDD use? +

EDD uses only the wages your employer reported to the state, including tips processed through payroll. Unreported cash never had SDI withheld, so it cannot count. Check Box 1 and Box 7 of your W-2 to see roughly what EDD will base your benefit on.

Can a busy season raise my PFL benefit? +

Yes. EDD uses your single highest-earning quarter, not your yearly average. A strong summer or holiday rush that concentrates reported tips and hours into one quarter raises that quarter and your weekly benefit. Wages from multiple restaurants in the base period combine if each withheld SDI.