Question about Short Term Dis. in CA

ses1199

I am currently working for a small company and the only pay I will get for my maternity leave is through the state's STD program. Does anyone know if you have to come back to work after your leave to qualify for this?  We are currently trying to figure out if we could afford to have me stay home for a bit after the child is born but I can't figure out from their website if I have to still be employed to qualify for the STD pay.  If I don't come back I would tell my employer this well before I went out so I'm trying to figure out if this would disqualify me for that state run benefit. 

I have been trying to call their hotline all week and can't get through to anyone.

Thanks to anyone who knows the answer to this!  

Edited to say I am the only employee so we don't have an HR department to talk to.

musiccaab

Sorry, I don't know the answer to your question, but I wanted to say congrats on your pregnancy!!!

bkilbourn

I'm not sure about that leave. I work for BofA and I am taking leave but most likely not coming back. I know it's hard being with a small company and some won't even offer time off it's it's less that 50 people. I don't think they can take it away if you decide to not return. With my company it's only if I use my vacation hours and technically haven't worked enough hours to earn it. I would then have to pay it back. not sure if it's the same but my maternity I wouldn't have to pay back.

sandiegobride07

You qualify for disability before you go on leave.  Doesn't matter whether or not you return to your job or quit.  I did this with my first, but waited until after my 6 weeks to give notice.

HTH

Mrs.Alanna

Your situation sounds IDENTICAL to mine. I am still undecided about when to tell them I'm not coming back. Like Tessa said, I believe we already qualify for the leave (we've been paying into the program for years) so it shouldn't affect your eligibility whether or not you go back to work. The thing I'm concerned about is when my insurance coverage will end, once I tell them I'm not coming back. I feel like it's not ethical to tell them AFTER I'm on leave, since I already know at this point, but I don't want to tell them too soon, just in case something should happen and I need to not burn any bridges!

Good luck...let me know if you find out anything else!

ses1199

musiccaab:

Sorry, I don't know the answer to your question, but I wanted to say congrats on your pregnancy!!!

Thanks!  

ses1199

sandiegobride07:

You qualify for disability before you go on leave.  Doesn't matter whether or not you return to your job or quit.  I did this with my first, but waited until after my 6 weeks to give notice.

HTH

Thanks for the confirmation of this.  I was hoping this was the case but wanted to make sure.  like pp said, I have been paying into this for years and do not want to loose out on it. (Even though it is only a portion of my pay, it is something!)  

ses1199

Mrs.Alanna:

Your situation sounds IDENTICAL to mine. I am still undecided about when to tell them I'm not coming back. Like Tessa said, I believe we already qualify for the leave (we've been paying into the program for years) so it shouldn't affect your eligibility whether or not you go back to work. The thing I'm concerned about is when my insurance coverage will end, once I tell them I'm not coming back. I feel like it's not ethical to tell them AFTER I'm on leave, since I already know at this point, but I don't want to tell them too soon, just in case something should happen and I need to not burn any bridges!

Good luck...let me know if you find out anything else!

That is another really good point.  The whole insurance thing. 

Erin RN

My leave was not pregnancy related but was injury related. You do qualify for STD right away if you go on a LOA with your work. When I asked about what happens if I couldn't go back, I was told that you will receive STD benefits until they run out. The only catch is that you have to have your dr fill out form that say that you physically can't return to work and why. Once you are physically able to return to work the benefits will stop. If you give your notice to work prior to going on leave, you may not qualify for STD. You have to be currently employed when the disability occurs. Here is the link for the California Disability Insurance info:

https://www.edd.ca.gov/Disability/

I hope this helps:)