Cocoon’s Eligibility & balances tab helps answer two key questions:
At the start of your leave, what leave entitlements were you eligible to receive?
As of today, how much time will you have remaining under federal and state entitlements at the end of your leave?
This article describes how to use this feature and how Cocoon calculates your balances.
Using the Eligibility and balances tab
To get there, navigate to any leave plan you have created in your Cocoon Dashboard, and click on Eligibility and balances.
For parental, medical, and caregiver leaves: click Eligibility to view the eligibility criteria Cocoon used for each relevant entitlement applicable to your leave, and to help you better understand why you are eligible or not eligible for each one. Click the arrow icon next to each entitlement's name to expand it for further details.
Cocoon uses a combination of employer-provided information and census data to automatically determine your eligibility. In the details of each entitlement, we surface the entitlement-specific criteria (Criteria), a brief description of what it means, and other information that we rely upon to make our determination (Evaluation status).
Examples of criteria include:
Location: whether you work at a qualifying worksite under applicable federal or state law rules.
Tenure: any required length of service with your employer as of the anticipated leave start date.
Cocoon assumes a single continuous period of employment and does not consider any prior periods of employment at your company.
Cocoon counts periods of employment even if you were not actually working (e.g., on paid or unpaid leave, PTO, vacation, etc.)
Hours worked: any required number of hours you must work as of the anticipated leave start date. Cocoon uses actual working time as compared to time that is paid but not actually worked (e.g., paid leave, PTO, vacation).
Toggle to "Balances" to view your latest anticipated balance as of that day:
total days
used days
remaining days
These balances reflect all submitted leaves, including those that are pending review. Denied and deleted leaves are excluded.
Why balances can change
Some leave programs are administered by the state
For certain benefits, the state, not Cocoon or your employer, makes the final decision about:
whether a leave is approved,
how much time counts against your benefit,
and when a new benefit year starts.
Examples of state-administered programs include:
Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave (MA PFML)
Washington Paid Family and Medical Leave (WA PFML)
Oregon Paid Leave Oregon (PLO)
Colorado Paid Family and Medical Leave Insurance (CO FAMLI)
Rhode Island Temporary Caregiver Insurance (RI TCI)
Cocoon helps coordinate these leave programs, but we don't have access to all state records or decisions. Because of that, the balances shown in Cocoon may not exactly match the state's final calculation.
Benefit year definitions vary by program
Each state program defines its benefit year differently. For example, a benefit year may be based on:
the date a claim is submitted,
the date leave begins,
or another program-specific rule.
Cocoon calculates your balances using the best information available (e.g., leave submission or leave start date), but the state is the source of truth for when a benefit year starts and ends. This can affect how much time the state ultimately counts as used or remaining.
Some leaves may be managed outside of Cocoon
Certain entitlements can cover multiple leave reasons, not all of which are administered or tracked in Cocoon.
For example:
bereavement leave,
safe leave,
sick child leave,
or other employer-managed leave.
If you take leave for one of these reasons and it counts against a shared entitlement, that usage may reduce the available balance even if it doesn't appear in Cocoon.
What the balances in Cocoon are best used for
Cocoon balances are designed to help you:
understand how much leave has been recorded so far,
plan upcoming time off,
and spot potential issues early
They are not intended to replace:
a state's official eligibility or approval notice, or
your employer's final confirmation of company-managed leaves.
What to do if you need a final answer
For state-administered benefits, rely on the state’s official notice or portal for final approval and balance information
For employer-managed leave, confirm details with your employer