Warehouse Worker PFL Calculator California 2026

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Estimated Weekly PFL Benefit — Warehouse Worker · 2026

$565/week

Based on $42,000/year · 8-week total: $4,523

Weekly Benefit

$565

8-Week Total

$4,523

Avg Weekly Wage

$808

Benefit Rate

70%

How This Was Calculated

For a Warehouse Worker earning $42,000/year, EDD calculates your PFL benefit using the highest-quarter method:

Highest Quarter Earnings

$42,000 ÷ 4 = $10,500 · Peak-season overtime can significantly boost your highest quarter.

Average Weekly Wage (AWW)

$10,500 ÷ 13 weeks = $808/week

Apply Rate: 70%

$808 × 70% = $565/week

Multiply by Weeks

$565 × 8 weeks = $4,523 total

Benefit by Number of Weeks

Leave Duration	Weekly Benefit	Total Benefit
1 week	$565/wk	$565
2 weeks	$565/wk	$1,131
4 weeks	$565/wk	$2,262
6 weeks	$565/wk	$3,392
8 weeks	$565/wk	$4,523

Peak-season overtime piles into one quarter

Here is the key fact for warehouse and fulfillment workers. EDD bases your benefit on your single highest-earning quarter in the base period, not on your annual salary. Warehouse pay is famously lumpy. Peak season (the Q4 holiday surge, plus Prime-style sales events and inventory crunches) stacks mandatory overtime, weekend premiums, and peak bonuses into a short window. All of it lands in the quarter you earned it, which inflates that quarter well above a flat salary ÷ 4. That higher quarter, divided by 13, sets your average weekly wage (AWW) and your weekly check.

So a picker on a $42,000 base whose peak quarter climbed from roughly $10,500 toward $15,000 with overtime would have an AWW near $1,154 instead of $808. That is a real, reportable difference, as long as the strong quarter falls inside the base period when you file. Always estimate from your actual best quarter, not your salary.

💡

Use your peak quarter, not your salaryCheck your wages by quarter in myEDD, or total your highest 3-month run of pay stubs (usually the peak-season quarter). Divide by 13 and enter that as your salary-equivalent above for a much closer estimate.

Lower base pay puts you in the 90% tier

California pays a higher rate to lower earners. If your AWW is $1,252.30 or less, PFL replaces 90% of it. Above that line it pays 70%. At $42,000/year your AWW is about $808, comfortably under the cutoff, so you qualify for the 90% tier. The estimate above uses the conservative 70% rate. At 90% the same $808 AWW pays roughly $727/week. Part-timers sit even deeper in the 90% band, while a full-timer whose overtime pushes one quarter high enough can cross into the 70% tier on that quarter.

Highest quarter	AWW (÷13)	Rate	Weekly benefit
$10,500 (~$42k/yr)	$808	90%	~$727
$13,000	$1,000	90%	~$900
$16,280	$1,252	90%	~$1,127
$19,000 (heavy OT)	$1,462	70%	~$1,023

Even after crossing into the 70% band, a bigger peak quarter still produces a bigger check. The rate steps down but the wage base steps up.

Eligibility, multiple sites, and job protection

If SDI was withheld from your pay (it shows on your stub as CASDI), you qualify for PFL to bond with a new child or care for a seriously ill family member, whether you work full-time, part-time, or seasonal. Wages from every employer that withheld SDI in your base period combine, so workers who moved between distribution centers or staffing agencies still get credit for all reported wages.

⚠️

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

Frequently Asked Questions

Does peak-season overtime increase a warehouse worker's PFL benefit? +

Yes. EDD uses your single highest-earning quarter, not your yearly average. Holiday surges, big sales events, and mandatory overtime concentrate pay into one quarter, raising that quarter's total and your average weekly wage — provided the strong quarter falls inside the base period when you file.

Do warehouse workers qualify for the 90% PFL rate? +

Most do. California pays 90% of your average weekly wage when that AWW is $1,252.30 or less, and 70% above it. A warehouse worker earning around $42,000 has an AWW near $808, under the cutoff, so they fall in the 90% tier — roughly $727/week instead of the $565 shown at the conservative 70% rate.

Does part-time or seasonal warehouse work count for PFL? +

Yes, as long as SDI was withheld (shown as CASDI on your stub). There is no minimum hours rule. Part-time wages produce a lower AWW, which usually keeps you in the higher 90% tier, and wages from multiple sites or agencies in the base period combine.

Will heavy overtime push me out of the 90% rate? +

It can. If overtime lifts your highest quarter so your AWW tops $1,252.30, that quarter is rated at 70% instead of 90%. But a larger quarter still yields a larger weekly benefit — the rate steps down while the wage base steps up, so more overtime generally still means a bigger check.