FMLA question

In July I become eligible for FMLA at my job. Would it be a good idea to sign up for it then or wait until right before the surgery date? I have never dealt with FMLA before or short term disability or long term disability since none of the jobs I had ever had benefits like this before. i am just not sure how to handle prepping for the time off of work that I will need.

In most states, FMLA is unpaid leave but your job is protected.  Many people have surgery and go back to work the next week.  It depends on your surgery type, on the type of work you do and on how much time you can go without a paycheck.

I would discuss this with your supervision and ask their preference on when they would want you to do the FMLA paperwork.

I filled out the paperwork as soon as I had a surgery date, because who knew how long it would take for HR to process it. As it turns out, it took about 2 days and the surgery date was about 2 months away.

Caroline

When I worked for a large coffee company, I went on FMLA 3 times in 8 years, twice for planned surgery and once when my back went out without warning...
If you know your surgery date, generally you should apply no less than 30 days out.  You can take up to 12 weeks per year, without pay.  If you have short-term disability, that is a seperate issue and is applied for with different paperwork.  Usually you are paid starting the 4 day off from work.  The nature of your surgery does not have to be disclosed to your superior, but your doctor will have to fill out paperwork for the insurance company(that pays STD) to process.
It is great that your company provides these benefits...I did 26 weeks of STD and now am on my LTD since I was unable to return to work in 2007..LTD is paid until I am 65.  It really stinks not being able to work in a job I loved, but it eases the pain keeping a good portion of my paycheck.

I did not become eligible for FMLA until the day before my surgery. I submitted the paperwork as soon as I had the surgery date. However, I was initially denied. The reason they gave was that I had not earned enough hours at the time I submitted the request. They can not determine if you will be eligible at a future date because only actual time worked counts. So even if you get paid for taking a"vacation" day, it doesn't go towards actual time worked.

My STD and FMLA are both handled by the same external company. Even though I tried to be proactive and get everything approved before my date, they wouldn't even look at the STD until my first day abscent.

In CA we have SDI - which pays for up to 52 weeks after a 1 week waiting period.  You need to not be able to work during that time (this is paid to you by the state - not your employer and is funded by you from paycheck deductions).    You can get 55% of your gross pay up to a max of like 750 a week.

FMLA is a federal guideline that allows you to take up to 12 weeks unpaid leave from your employer.  Your job/benefits etc are protected during that time.  FMLA does not actually pay you anything in this case.

You shouldn't have to "apply" for anything except to the state.  Talk to your HR and find out what you need to do for their paperwork requirements.  You can also take any vacation/sick time you have available prior to signing up for SDI - a lot of companies make you do that. 

Your HR should be able to guide you through anything.

Your company/job needs to have more than 50 people working in it (in your area) and you need to have worked at least 1250 hours in the past twelve months to fall under FMLA "protection".

Hope this helps.