I just wanted to chime in on this thread as I came looking for similar clarity this tax season. What I learned is that the blanket statement that the only CA tax exempt PFL is ones that come ONLY from a separate W2 from your company's insurer is untrue. That statement cannot be applied to all situations.
In my case the company I work has a voluntary plan and uses The Larkin Company to administer parental leave. I received pay both in the form of PFL, which matches what the EDD would pay, as well as pay from my employer. However, all the pay still came through my employer every pay period, for convenience. Larkin specifically states that the PFL portion is CA tax exempt and at the end of the year I will not receive a separate W2 from them. Instead it will all be reported on my company's normal W2, which is why the PFL portion is denoted in box 14. So it is not true that if you do not receive a separate W2 from your company's insurance company that you have no PFL to deduct from the CA sate tax. In my case I marked the W2 as containing PFL, then in the state tax section I entered the PFL amount from Box 14 to reduce my CA taxable income by that same amount.
In the end the best thing you can do is ask your company for clarity and see if the numbers make sense.
