Short Term Disabilty and FMLA

megan2654

Hello All,

 

I am wondering about anyone's experiences with Short-term Disabilty and the FMLA. I am currently 22 weeks with twins. My doctor told me he doesn't really want me to work past 28 weeks which is mid January. My boss mention FMLA however that will cut into my maternity time off with the babies. I have heard of people taking Short-term disabilty ( when the doctors gives you a note stating medical necessity) and then switching over to FMLA once you give birth. I am in NY state. Anyone have any experince or advice with this? TIA

lnle

not totally sure. I think it varies by company policy maybe? I'm trying to get those exact answers from my HR people and they don't seem to know, which is frustrating!!!

MomOfTrips

Well I am not sure if it depends on your company/ state or not but here was my experience... I am a nurse at a busy dialysis clinic. About 16 weeks I was having some contractions and my blood pressure kept shooting up while I was at work. So my doctor took me out of work and put me on modified bedrest (which resolved all the issues). I have short term disability that covers everything until 8 weeks postpartum. The way they did my leave though is a little odd because you only get like 12 weeks of FMLA. The first 12 weeks are covered by FMLA, and rest is covered by a non-FMLA medical leave. The issue for some in this situation is that technically they don't have to hold your position on a non-FMLA leave. I am lucky that my boss has told me not to worry about it at all and they are definately holding my spot for after the babies are born.

I hope this helped.

https://barnettjourney.blogspot.com/

omalley

I am in PA so it may be different but here is what my company offered.  I was given 14 weeks paid (which is very generous) but they started the STD clock and the FMLA clock at the same time.  I had 14 weeks STD and 12 weeks FMLA but not consecutively - they ran concurrently.  If you are confused - join the club.

Basically I got 14 weeks that started when I was put on bedrest at 32 weeks, I had the boys at 36 weeks.  I had to go back to work when the boys were 10 weeks.  If I went on bed rest earlier then I would have to go back to work sooner.

I cried in the HR office when they told me their policy b/c I was so worried about a lengthy bedrest.  I would sit down with them now and see what your options are.

Temp159135562506975

it totally varies by state and company - you need to talk to someone in HR--- and also talk to other women in your company who have taken leave in the past year or so - since they will also know well how it works.... often, HR people are not good with leave info if your company is based in a state that you don't work in (i had this problem - i work/live in NJ but my company is in IL - they had NO clue about the NJ laws and how long my leave would be. If i listened to them i would have had 10 less weeks of leave!)

here in NJ you can go out on STD before you give birth if the doc says you need to - and it does not eat into your maternity leave at all.  I left work at 27w with the twins and was fully paid by STD from my company during that time.

amjra

This is what my HR said (Minnesota):

FMLA and STD are completely separate and have NOTHING to do with each other.  That is why they can run concurrently. FMLA is a legal protection and STD is how you get paid, if you qualify.

FMLA clock starts as soon as you have a qualifying situation (medical, birth, adoption, etc.)  That just means that they can't terminate you for being gone, for 12 weeks after you leave, but only if the company has more than 50 employees and you have been employed for a year. 

STD is what PAYS you when you are not at work.  In my case, our company has private insurance, which is pretty nice.  (Almost 100% of my salary.)

 So, I go into the hospital at 26 weeks.  I will be in there for maybe 8 weeks.  They are legally bound to not fire me for only 4 weeks after my cesarean, and then they can basically fire me for not being there - even though my STD pays me for 8 weeks after birth.  But if I am fired, I would only get paid for the 4 weeks! 

My boss is probably not going to fire me for taking an additional 12 weeks after the birth (20 weeks total).  But who knows? 

nygrl79

I am also in NY.  Whether or not you have short-term disability coverage depends on your company.  At my company, FMLA cuts into my disability.  However, because I'm entitled to 26 weeks of disability due to my seniority, I will be ok if I have to go on medically necessitated short-term disability.  You should check with your HR/benefits department to find out how that works at your company.

jenchi33

Megan,

 I don't know the answer to your question, but I noticed you are from Albany.  I live like 20 mins south of there but I work in Albany.  I would love to get to know you! :-) 

 

Jen

kelliwill

I live in Ca, so it may be different than NY.  I was placed off of work at 24 weeks.  As far as work goes it is as if I had any other disability.  Once my babies are born I will start my FMLA.  I am having my babies in Dec and not going back to work til June, so the majority of it will be not paid anyway, and I am covered my DH's insurance, so I will run out of FMLA long before I go back to work.  Ca also had paid family leave that you can get for 6 weeks after your disability runs out, I don't know if anywhere else does this.  GL!