STD question

Re: STD question

• JAH12 member

  January 2013

  First, just a heads up that many may not agree with what you are doing. I posted a similar thing a few weeks back, so don?t let it discourage you! It?s your choice, not theirs . I had a similar situation, but here are a few things to think about. I will apologize now that this is so long, but hopefully it will help answer a few of your questions. 1. Are you sure you qualify for STD with only being at your company for 2 months? Many companies will give you disability, but you aren't actually covered until you have been there for a certain amount of time - a year, 6 months, etc. 2. If DH has good insurance and it?s your plan to quit after you take leave I would go ahead and get on his insurance now, just in case. Even if it means you having to pay two premiums for a short time ? your insurance will be your primary insurance anyway and his will be secondary. When I got pg with DD #1 thankfully I was under my own insurance and my husbands. Un-announced by my employer dropped our coverage and did not notify their employees! (Yes, this is illegal, but it happened to me!) Thank goodness I was also on my husband?s plan because had I not been I could have been potentially turned down if he tried to add me because of a "pre-existing condition", aka pregnancy! Again - this may not be the case, but I would rather be safe than sorry. It took me over a year to get the doctor?s office to submit it to the correct insurance and they were trying to get me to pay bills that I wasn't responsible for. You don't want to have that happen! 3. I am considering not coming back after I have my baby as well. I will be taking 10 weeks of leave - 6 weeks using paid STD and then my company gives us an additional 3 weeks of paid leave called parental leave and my 10th week I will use PTO. I decided to call my HR department and just ask them exactly what the policy was - told them it was my intention to return to work full time, but realistically anything can happen. It is my understanding that you can enquiring about your benefits/options and they cannot hold that against you in anyway ? aka tell your boss etc. you are just enquiring to see what your options are. However, my company told me if I call in the middle of my STD leave and tell them I am quitting, I then basically forfeit my STD benefits right then (as well as health insurance) and my termination would be immediate and I would have to pay back the leave that I had already taken. So technically, I would need to come back for at least 1 day, and then tell them I was quitting. Some companies have policies that may state you need to come back for X number of weeks/days or days or you will need to pay back the time you took. So I think every company is different. Definitely ask, as it is my understanding they cannot punish you for enquiring about your benefits. If all pans out with my plan, I will be returning after my leave for at least 2 weeks and plan to stick around until they hire someone, whom I would be more than happy to train. I hope this helps some. Good luck!

  Look out baby #3 is on his/her way!
  
  
  

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• runningyogimama member

  January 2013

  Thanks for your input, ladies. I know that a lot of people look down on the whole situation, and, in all honesty, I'd always thought going on your maternity leave and then not coming back was kind of a shady thing to do, but...guess you can't judge a situation until you're in it. It wasn't my intention, but it's how things have worked out.

  I do know that I can take STD as long as I make it to March 1st (3 months paying into STD). It's through a private insurance company through my employer since our state doesn't have anything, and I've read through their policy and my employer's policy and handbook, and I haven't found anything about paying back STD or insurance...but it also didn't say that we couldn't cover the uncovered portion of our pay (STD is only 60%) with PTO, but when I contacted HR, she said that wasn't allowed (my old employer allowed it).

  Guess I will contact HR and ask...it makes me feel better that they can't share the information and hold it against me.
  

  
  

  

  

   

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• almachs0786 member

  January 2013

  Find and read your employee handbook!! I am in a similar situation. I asked HR all kinds of questions and got answers I wasn't satisfied with, so I started looking through our policies and handbook. What I found out is that the first 6 weeks of my maternity leave are completely unpaid (other than accrued PTO) - after the first 6 weeks, my STD will kick in. I also found out that during the time I have off I am responsible for my portion of insurance AND if I should decide to not come back after maternity leave - I can then be held responsible for the portion of the insurance my employer paid and any other benefits I received during that time... I work for a large hospital in WV..  The questions you have can be answered by a mix of reading up on your states laws and also your companies policies. If you can't find your answers - ASK. It's always better to know than to be surprised!!!
  

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