How to estimate parental and medical leave top-ups
- Claire Baker
- Jun 28
- 2 min read
How do you top up state paid parental leave without a leave management company?
If your company is big enough to have more than a handful of parental/medical/disability leaves in a year, you probably want a leave management company likeย Cocoonย orย Tilt.ย
But if you only have a couple a year, it may not be worth it. I've been talking to a bunch of HR pros about how to top up manually.ย

The problems:ย
๐ค ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐บ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ฝ ๐๐ฝ ๐๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐น๐ฎ๐ถ๐บ?
I once saw a dad in Oregon whose claim wasn't approved until after he came back to work.
๐งฎ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ณ๐ถ๐๐ (๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ธ๐น๐) ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ ๐๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐บ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐น๐ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฐ๐น๐ฒ?
1 month = 4.28 weeks, except when it's 4.48 weeks, except when it's 4 weeks.
Here's how I do it:
1๏ธโฃ I make a conservative estimate about how much the state will pay. Most states have benefit calculators that do the work for you.ย
When in doubt, I round down.ย
2๏ธโฃ I calculate the top-up based on the conservative estimate in Step 1. For semimonthly, the formula is:
[(Annual salaryรท 52 weeks) โ (Estimated weekly benefit from the state)] x 52 weeks รท 24 semimonthly pay cycles
3๏ธโฃ I pay their top-up amount on regular payday until their state claim is approved. (You'll probably have to process this as an off-cycle payroll.)
4๏ธโฃ When the state claim is approved, I reconcile any differences between my estimate and what the state actually approved. Since I was conservative, any differences will probably be in the employee's favor (meaning I didn't overpay).ย
5๏ธโฃ I make them whole in a lump sum. If I overestimated the state payments (has never happened), I decrease the remaining payments slightly (or I don't, because it's not worth quibbling over).ย
6๏ธโฃ I then continue to pay the adjusted top-up amount on the regular pay cycle (better if their return date is unknown) or pay a lump sum for the rest of their leave (just make sure to spread out the pay period over the full remainder of their leave so they don't get killed on taxes).
You can do something similar with private short-term disability.ย
I made a quick and dirty calculator, if you want to use it.
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