What Is SDI or CASDI on a Paycheck?

Key takeaways

• The California EDD lists a 1.3% SDI withholding rate for 2026.
• EDD guidance says all wages subject to SDI are currently included; California removed the taxable wage ceiling effective January 1, 2024.
• SDI withholding helps fund California Disability Insurance and Paid Family Leave benefits.
• Paying CASDI can support eligibility, but it does not guarantee a claim or determine the final benefit by itself.

SDI and CASDI terminology

CASDI is not federal Social Security Disability Insurance, federal Medicare, workers’ compensation, or an employer’s private long-term disability plan. Similar abbreviations can appear near each other, so use the payroll legend and California taxable-wage fields.

2026 California SDI rate

The EDD contribution-rate page lists the 2026 employee SDI rate as 1.3%. EDD also states that all wages subject to the program are currently included and that the state removed the taxable wage limit beginning in 2024. “All wages” in that statement refers to wages that are otherwise subject to SDI under California rules; it should not be read as eliminating coverage exceptions or alternative plans.

Actual payroll can differ because an earning may not be subject to SDI, the employee may be covered by an approved voluntary plan, or a correction may be present. Payroll rounding can also create a small cents difference.

What California SDI may provide

Disability Insurance may provide partial wage replacement to an eligible worker who cannot perform regular work because of a qualifying non-work-related illness, injury, pregnancy, or childbirth. Paid Family Leave may provide partial wage replacement for qualifying family-care, bonding, or military-assistance leave. These programs provide benefits; they do not by themselves create job protection.

Eligibility and payment amounts depend on EDD rules, base-period wages, claim facts, timely forms, medical certification where required, and other conditions. EDD’s eligibility material says CASDI on a stub can be evidence that wages were subject to the contribution, but the agency decides claims.

How to check a CASDI deduction

• Locate current and YTD California SDI taxable wages.
• Multiply current subject wages by 1.3% for a 2026 reasonableness check.
• Look for a voluntary-plan code if CASDI is absent or another disability line appears.
• Check whether a reversal, retroactive payment, or prior-year payment changed the calculation.
• Ask payroll which California rule or plan applies before requesting a correction.

Work location can matter. EDD eligibility guidance notes that a worker whose job is based in California and who paid CASDI may potentially qualify even if the worker does not live in California, provided all other requirements are met. Cross-border work can be fact-specific, so payroll or EDD should address the individual arrangement.

Where this comes from

• California EDD, 2026 Contribution Rates and Withholding (opens in a new tab)
• California EDD, Determine Taxable Wages and Calculate Taxes (opens in a new tab)
• California EDD, Disability Insurance Eligibility FAQs (opens in a new tab)
• California EDD, Contribution Rates and Benefit Amounts (opens in a new tab)