Short Term Disability vent

shara3333 · February 2013

So my company, like many others, does not have a maternity leave policy. I can get the FMLA (unpaid but keep my job for 12 weeks) and get Short Term Disability pay for 6 or 8 weeks depending on my delivery.

Here is the CATCH.... our short term disability policy has a 30 day waiting/elimination period. Meaning even though my STD starts the day I give birth, I have to wait 30 days to receive benefits and at that point 4 weeks have passed so I only get 2 (or 4) weeks of pay at 60% of my salary. OUCH! I will be able to use my 20 PTO days at that time, so that will about cover the 30 day waiting period, but it still sucks. Then I need to decide when to go back and how many weeks of zero pay we can handle with baby and mortgage.

I know I can't complain too much, since I know many people out there are getting NO STD pay, but it just sucks. 30 day elimination period, from what I read, is VERY long. It's often a week.

The ironic thing is my company is a "wellness" company that preaches about how good they take care of their employees and we have a female CEO and head of HR.....and yet they aren't helping new mother's out very much.

Good thing we are putting away extra money into savings now and got a decent amount back from taxes. Oh and I did find out yesterday that the purchase of a breast pump will be 100% covered by insurance, so that's something

Anyone else surprised at their companies policy or lack there of???

Carrie3102 · February 2013

30 days seems long. Ours is a week and you use 1 week of sick or vacation to cover it.

I'm sorry that yours is so long. Maybe (I don't know if you can or not) save up enough for 2 paychecks so it'll be like you're "getting paid" when you're not?

JennyLynne · February 2013

Ours is a week too, but I'm still completely not sure how we're going to survive all of this financially. I'll only have about a week and a half PTO by the time I hit due date. So it's coming down to how long can we afford to live off of one income. I assume you guys are in the states--so here's a "fun" map that I found a while ago and it always leaves me sad everytime I look at it:

https://www.npr.org/2011/08/09/137062676/time-with-a-newborn-maternity-leave-policies-around-the-world

cold0009 · February 2013

Money is always very stressful, but you are pretty lucky. My company offers no STD and my insurance company does not cover my breastpump. So we have been trying to save as much as possible because there are going to be a lot of hospital bills (we have a high deductable) along with me not getting paid for the time off. It will be hard, but worth it IMO.

Lelo2006 · February 2013

I'm so sorry. 30 days is so long!

JennyLynne · February 2013

cold0009:
Money is always very stressful, but you are pretty lucky. My company offers no STD and my insurance company does not cover my breastpump. So we have been trying to save as much as possible because there are going to be a lot of hospital bills (we have a high deductable) along with me not getting paid for the time off. It will be hard, but worth it IMO.

Are you in the states? If so, I think insurance companies are required now to pay for breast pumps under the affordable care act (obamacare). You should really look into that again--I think it changed this year?

hollandmama · February 2013

I'm sorry that you and a lot of moms have to go through this like using PTO for before-after delivery!! I think government should start making it mandatory for companies to give certain amount of time for moms to delivery and care for a newborn.

Sometimes I hate paying so much tax in this country but when I get my social benefits then it really pays off: I'm getting 4 full-paid months, one before and three after. Plus 26 weeks of unpaid parental leave which I can take after baby arrives or one-two days per week for however long it takes to finish them... and I am not in one of the best countries, in France both parents get to share 104 weeks of unpaid leave plus the normal 4 paid months for the mom.

Kitten80 · February 2013

I can't get below the quote, dumb phone. This does not go fully into effect until sometime in 2014, and companies can put restrictions on it. Including what pump and distributor and when it can be ordered. I know a lot of women on TB have said they cannot order until baby has arrived and if the company is out, they have to wait.

JennyLynne:
cold0009:
Money is always very stressful, but you are pretty lucky. My company offers no STD and my insurance company does not cover my breastpump. So we have been trying to save as much as possible because there are going to be a lot of hospital bills (we have a high deductable) along with me not getting paid for the time off. It will be hard, but worth it IMO.
Are you in the states? If so, I think insurance companies are required now to pay for breast pumps under the affordable care act (obamacare). You should really look into that again--I think it changed this year?

JennyLynne · February 2013

Kitten80:
I can't get below the quote, dumb phone. This does not go fully into effect until sometime in 2014, and companies can put restrictions on it. Including what pump and distributor and when it can be ordered. I know a lot of women on TB have said they cannot order until baby has arrived and if the company is out, they have to wait.

Ah--I was thinking it was this year. A lot must be starting early then. I think mine is getting around some of it by giving me a credit that equals the lowest cost pump that the supplier offers. I can use that toward any other pump the supplier offers. So there are loopholes for sure.

MandaS08 · February 2013

That does suck! Ours is two weeks. We don't have any paid leave-we get STD and then I have about 6 weeks of vacation saved b/c I've been at my company for along time.

shara3333 · February 2013

Thanks all, I know I should still feel pretty lucky to get something. It is better than nothing and overall my insurance is pretty decent. My husbands company (big law firm) gives 12 weeks full pay maternity leave, so definitely is in my ear with how bad it is and he also thinks that most companies have maternity leave (which I've told him that is not true like 100 times).

I tried to do the "buy up" to a 14 day elimination period when my benefits renewed this year, but Cigna denied me because I had a herniated disc last year. Even though I didn't even go on disability for it or anything, they still declined me the "buy up" option to 14 days. I was also very bummed about that b/c if I just signed up for that when I was hired 5 years ago they wouldn't have done a medical check or anything. But b/c I was changing my plan they required medical information. So next time I'm hired anywhere, I'll add on everything they let me!

Sincera4 · February 2013

From what I understood with my insurance company is that if you are in the hospital for more than 24 hours, disability kicks in. That's what I was told a few years back. I would ask. And I hope they weren't lying!

Want a personalized experience?

Short Term Disability vent

Re: Short Term Disability vent

Choose Another Board

Search Boards