Intro
First and foremost, congratulations to you and yours on this exciting new step!
Whether you're welcoming your little one into the world or welcoming them into your home via adoption or foster care, the Cocoon team is here to help guide you through this journey.
Goal of this guide
Our goal is simple: to partner with you to create the best leave experience possible.
We're hoping this guide will:
Teach you the fundamentals of leave
Help you feel comfortable planning, submitting, and taking your leave
….and (most importantly): allow you to focus on what matters most—your growing family!
Your leave
Your leave is just that — yours. It's particular to you and your circumstances and as such, no parental leave is exactly the same as another.
To start, what is a non-birthing parental leave?
Non-birthing parental leave is time intended for parents who are not physically giving birth. You may qualify for non-birthing parental leave as the partner to a birthing parent or as a parent welcoming your child into your home via fostering, adoption, or surrogacy.
As the non-birthing parent, your leave plan should be fairly straightforward. The time you have available is generally referred to as "bonding" leave. As the name suggests, it is time intended for you to bond with your new child and family.
This time might be available to you by:
Your employer's parental leave policy
Federal protections like FMLA
Your state's paid family leave program (if applicable)
…or any combination of the above!
💡 Cocoon Tip: If you live in a state that offers a PFL program, this will surface in your leave timeline. For more on this topic, check out the Time & Pay section below!
Tell me some of the basics — how does my leave actually work?
Heading out on parental leave is an exciting time; a time dedicated for you to bond with your new child and spend those pivotal first moments together. One of the most important pieces to substantiate a non-birthing parental leave is the proof of relationship document.
The proof of relationship document serves to inform your employer, the state, and/or the federal government that you've had a little one enter your life and you're embarking on a leave of absence to invest in that relationship.
If you are the partner of a birthing parent or welcoming your child via surrogacy, we'll need the following:
A proof of birth or proof of relationship document. This should be signed by a hospital representative, birthing center staff, or healthcare professional and include:
Your baby's name
Date of birth
And indicate you as a parent.
If you're adopting or fostering, we'll need the following:
A certification from an adoption or foster care agency involved in the placement, confirming both the placement of the child and date of placement
What should I keep in mind as I get started planning my leave?
We know expected due dates and how little one's enter our lives is highly subject to change. Additionally, family plans and care plans for your little one(s) might evolve throughout your leave.
As such, it's important to remember that it's okay—expected, even—for your leave to change after you submit it. So you should feel free to play around with your dates, experiment, and submit your leave with the dates you most likely expect.
💡 Cocoon Tip: We generally recommend submitting your tentative leave dates as early as possible to allow your manager and team time to prepare. We want you to feel confident and comfortable as you're taking this step—still keep in mind that hitting the "Submit" button doesn't mean your dates are set in stone and you can return to Cocoon to change your dates.
💡 Cocoon Tip: Spending time with your little one(s) may be one of the most important things you do in life. Research shows that bonding is vital for attachment between children and their parents, especially in infancy and the early stages of the relationship. We hope you feel comfortable taking the time available so you're able to build these important bonds and navigate the adventures of parenthood.
The journey
It can be helpful to think of your leave as a journey with three parts:
The pre-leave period: Ideally, you'll use this time to prepare for your leave and make sure you understand what is available to you in terms of time and pay, as well as your leave responsibilities.
The leave itself: Our hope is that you'll be able to relax and focus on your growing family during this time.
The return to work: Cocoon will provide you with helpful tips via email as you make the transition back to work.
💡 Cocoon Tip: Ahead of going out on leave, it can be helpful to create a Transition Plan with your manager to set expectations for the transition and set you and your team up for a smooth and stress-free absence and return to work! |
Tell me a bit about how to prepare for my leave
First things first, know that you're not alone in this journey. We know taking leave can be scary as there can be a lot of moving parts, but we also know it doesn't have to be!
Here is a general checklist to help you prepare:
Draft your leave and understand the full time available to you (e.g., employer policy and federal and state entitlements)
If you've moved to your state recently or lived in any other states in the last 12 months please reach out to Cocoon support
Understand your pay sources and leave pay *— this will help you to budget accordingly
Understand your claims*, and what your responsibilities are in order to get them submitted on time to avoid delays
Submit your leave in Cocoon as soon as possible to notify your employer and kick off the process
*As we mentioned earlier in the guide, no parental leave is the same as another parental leave. If claims or leave pay are applicable to your leave, this will be surfaced in your Cocoon dashboard under the "Your claims" tab and your leave timeline.
I'm ready to share my plan
Fantastic news! It's a big step.
It's important to remember that up until this point, your leave has been entirely private. Once you finalize the submission flow, your manager and your HR team will be automatically notified — so, should you want to tell them this news on your own before then, be mindful of that.
💡 Cocoon Tip: After your leave has officially been submitted, please keep in mind your manager and people team will be automatically informed of any changes made to your leave plan.
What do I need to do before I head out?
Now that you're in the final stretch of your pre-leave journey, our hope is that you're feeling comfortable with what to expect while you're on leave! But before you head out, here's a short checklist to keep in mind as you tie up any loose ends:
Finalize your leave transition plan with your manager and team
Set up any out of office communications
Once your little one arrives, submit the proper documentation in your Cocoon Documents section.
Breathe — you got this!
💡 Cocoon Tip: Feel free to utilize the Documents section in Cocoon as your "Source of truth" for your leave. Please upload any documents pertaining to your leave here as opposed to sending them via email — we always want to ensure your privacy is protected!
Time & pay
Broadly speaking, leave can be thought of as a combination of two things:
Time — the amount of time available to you through a combination of employer policy and state or federal entitlements
Pay — the income and wage replacement available to your through a combination of employer policy and state programs
Understanding the time that is available to you
Cocoon uses software to accurately represent the total amount of time available to use during your leave.
Leave time is calculated using a few variables:
Location: where you live and work (specifically, what state/locality you live and work in and where you pay taxes)
Length of service: how long you've been at your company
Employer details: where your employer is located, and how many employees they have
Employer policy: how much time your employer provides for parental leave
To see how your time is being calculated, you can check out the "time" section of your leave dashboard (it's the little clock icon).
Once there, click anywhere on the green bars, and we'll expand them to show you which laws and policies (usually known as "entitlements") are in play for your leave.
I think I have more time available than Cocoon is showing me
No two leaves look the same. If you've taken leave before at another company, it's entirely possible that your leave will look different this time. Perhaps you've moved states—that, too, could result in a very different looking leave. Maybe your manager or your direct report has more time than you do: this, too, can absolutely happen. Every leave is different.
Most of the time, our software gets it right on the first try. That said—you know your situation better than we do. If something doesn't look quite right, reach out to us to discuss. The most common reasons why your leave time might be inaccurate is from cross-state moves or tri-state area tax complexities.
We're always happy to chat through how Cocoon is calculating your time eligibilities and make any adjustments if we weren't able to capture things accurately.
It's really important to me to take all of the time available. How do I know that I'm doing so?
Absolutely, we totally get that. Caring for a child demands a whole lot.
As mentioned a moment ago, our software reliably models all of the time available to you. A great way to check that you've maxed out your time is to look at the mini-calculators on the leave planning screen.
I think I may need additional time
In general, the best place to start with that request would be directly with your employer. (Usually the HR or People team, but you can also chat with your manager.)
Should your employer grant additional leave time, have them reach out to us directly, and we'll take care of adding it to your account.
Understanding the pay that is available to you
You may be wondering by this point—how do I get paid? Is my employer just going to pay me through my normal paycheck?
Maybe you've heard from other new parents that they've received checks from the state. Maybe your employer offers 100% of your salary during a certain portion of your leave, but not the whole thing, and you want to understand how all that works.
Let's dive in!
Where does my pay come from on leave?
For a bonding leave, you may have pay coming from up to two sources (depending upon your state and employer policy):
Your employer
A state paid family leave program (e.g., WA PFML or CA PFL)
What do I need to prepare for to ensure I get my pay?
Once you submit your leave, we'll coach you through the whole process! So if you're still in the planning phase, you don't need to sweat the details too much just yet. The most important steps to keep in mind are:
Make sure your leave dates are reflected accurately in your Cocoon dashboard
Upload your proof of relationship or proof of birth documentation in Cocoon once your little one makes their arrival
If you leave dates change, please make sure to update them in your dashboard as soon as possible (more on this below!)
If you're unable to make the changes on your end, please reach out to our support team for assistance
What if I have claims associated with my leave? What do I do?
Any applicable claims, resources, and due dates will be visible upon leave submission in the "Your claims" tab:
These are standardized forms that we'll provide to you — along with helpful, supportive in-product guides — once you submit your leave.
I still have questions on leave pay — and I want to understand this better before submitting my leave
That's understandable! This guide to your leave pay goes into a lot more depth on what to expect from your pay and how it's typically calculated. If anything is still unclear, please let us know and we'd be happy to chat through it with you!
Change happens
We know that leave (and life!) don't always go as planned and your needs and situation may change. Maybe your partner's leave plan shifted or your childcare plans fell through. Regardless of what comes up, we'll help provide guidance to create a leave plan that works best for you and your family's needs.
My dates have changed — is that okay?
Of course! The good news is, leave dates can be flexible and adjusted to accommodate for unexpected change. To change your leave dates, you can follow this handy guide our team created.
While leave date changes are fairly simple, the process may look a little different depending on your leave. Here are some common scenarios below:
If you don't have a claim associated with your leave:
All you'll need to do is change your dates in your Cocoon dashboard and hit "Save." This will notify your people team and manager automatically—no further action is needed!
If your claim has already been submitted:
Adjust your leave dates in Cocoon by hitting "Edit plan"
Reach out to your claim entity to update them with your adjusted leave dates and expected return to work date
I don't actually know when I'm going to need leave — what should I do?
And that's okay! Our advice here would be to just give it your best estimate. You can always go into your Cocoon dashboard and make changes as needed, but submitting your best guess initially will give your manager and team as much notice as possible to prepare for your leave—even if your dates shift!
Conclusion
Leave is a really big moment and we know there are so many pieces to navigate, beyond just the logistics of taking time away from work. Our hope is that this guide gave you some reassurance and made you feel a bit more prepared for what's to come.
If you're in need of a human conversation about this, we're here for that, too. Book a call with us, or send us an email. We've seen thousands of people create happy, restful leaves. We're excited for you to join them.
Here if you need us. 👋
Have Questions? We're here to help!
Email us at [email protected]