30-Second Summary
Cocoon’s Eligibility & balances tab helps answer two key questions:
At the start of a particular leave, what leave entitlements was the employee eligible to receive?
As of today, how much time does an employee have remaining under federal and state entitlements at the end of a leave?
This article describes how to use this feature and how Cocoon calculates employee balances.
Using the Eligibility and balances tab
To get there, navigate to any individual leave in your Admin 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 to help you better understand why an employee is 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 an employee's eligibility. In the details of each entitlement, we surface the entitlement-specific criteria (Criteria), a brief description of what it means, and the information provided about the employee we rely upon to make our determination (Evaluation status).
Examples of criteria include:
Location: whether the employee works at a qualifying worksite under applicable federal or state law rules. Cocoon presumes all employees are employed at qualifying worksites unless the admin says an employee does not work at an eligible worksite from their census.
Tenure: any required length of service with the 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 an employee is not actually working (e.g., on paid or unpaid leave, PTO, vacation, etc.)
Hours worked: any required number of hours the employee 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 an employee’s 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.
How Cocoon calculates leave balances
Total days is calculated by multiplying expected_weekly_hours from the census by the number of leave weeks provided by time entitlements and commitments. Cocoon may adjust leave balances to reflect changes in an employee's scheduled work hours during an employee's leave.
[Callout] Balances in Cocoon reflect the best information available in the system today. Final determinations may differ for state-administered programs or if some leave was managed outside of Cocoon. Use these balances as a planning guide, not a final confirmation.
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 leaves, 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 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 leave 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 an employee takes 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,
help an employee plan upcoming time off,
and spot potential issues early.
They are not intended to replace:
a state's official eligibility or approval notice, or
an employer's final confirmation of company-managed leaves.
What to do if you need a final answer
Use Cocoon to track and plan leave consistently.
Defer to the state's determination for state-administered programs.
Confirm off-platform leave usage when reconciling balances.
Key takeaway
Cocoon shows the best estimate based on what we know today. Final decisions about eligibility, benefit years, and usage may be made by the state or managed directly by the employer. Using Cocoon alongside official state notices and employer policies gives you the clearest picture.