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Stay at Home Moms
HR advice: paying back STD benefits if I SAH?
Would like some advice from those who have been in this particular situation... I do not use my company's insurance so they will not be contributing towards the birth/hospital bills, however I do receive six weeks of STD benefits (company paid - I did not contribute to this) at 66.6% - no formal maternity leave, just STD.
I will be taking six weeks of STD, two weeks of vacation and the remaining four weeks will be unpaid - fulfilling my 12 weeks of FMLA.
DH and I have been strongly considering that I stay at home instead of go back to work... not 100% yet, though. If we do go that route, I am unsure whether or not there would be any repercussions with my STD benefits... I don't want to have to pay those back. Anyone else go through this? I'm particularly interested in those of you that had company paid STD benefits and not STD benefits that you paid for through your paychecks...
Thanks! 
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Re: HR advice: paying back STD benefits if I SAH?
Do you have an HR manual that you can reference, or someone to ask?
My company COULD have made me pay back benefits, but didn't when I told them I was going to be a SAHM.
It depends on your company.
GL!
Chances are if you work for a huge company, the likelihood of you having to pay back any benefits are slim.
Is there a mom that you can ask that used to work for your company?
I totally get it. I was lucky that it was spelled out, and DH and I were prepared to pay back benefits if it was requested (I worked for a mid-sized firm at that time)........
I used to work in HR and usually they don't ask you to pay back, however every company is different. I'd call your HR department and ask them what would happen if you decide you aren't coming back to work.
GL to you!
It's highly unlikely you'd be asked to pay back STD benefits. I'm not even sure that would be proper, although it's possible there is some self-insured company out there with a weird payback requirement.
You might be asked to pay back other benefits that you've received while on unpaid leave, like health insurance premiums. Probably not, but it's possible.
The best thing to do is call your HR department and ask. Especially since it's a big company, I can guarantee they've heard the same question hundreds of times before. They won't put you on any kind of blackball list for asking questions.
Yup, it all depends on the company.
My insurance coverage was through my husband's company so my job only paid for my time off. And like Harriet, they could have made me pay back but they didn't. But I knew that was a risk so I saved the money just in case.
Yeah, just ask them. It's not that bad. I asked my HR dept by saying, "If my DH won the lottery tomorrow and I didn't come back to work, would I have to pay you back?"
They didn't even blink an eye, and answered my question.
Very few companies make you pay it back. You can always bank them, then if they ask for them back, you have them. I had STD that my company paid for. I got my STD and did not have to pay it back, though I never went back. I also got my vacation paid while I waited for STD to kick in (1 week). My company paid into disability for 5 years as a benefit of my employment, why should I not be eligible for it at the very time I need it?
Many people do not come back from STD, either they are terminated by the company and move to LTD or they are out for a while and cannot come back in the capacity they were in so they find other jobs. Not to compare having a child with having an illness, but there are many jobs that don't work well for a given family after they have kids, just like a cancer survivor might not want to work 60 hours a week anymore for health reasons.
so far, no one has asked me to pay back my benefits.... and i quit a month before i was scheduled to go back.