Sick leave/Disability Considerations

CAVEAT!! Your situation --including your company's insurance, your own private disability insurance program and your state disability insurance program -- may be VERY different from what I am mentioning, so you should look into it specifically. The point of this posting is to mention SOME considerations that you might want to take into account ahead of time. Most of us who are working have various means of protection available for our jobs, our income and our long-term disability. These benefits can be coordinated or can be mutally exclusive, and you need to think carefully about how you manage them BEFORE you take time off for surgery. The first line of "defense" that most people think of using is sick leave. This pays your full income while you are out, assuming you have the time accrued. The second line of defense is usually some form or forms of disability insurance. In my case, when I had my surgery, I had state disability insurance, which kicked in one week after a HOSPITALIZATION, and paid a modest fraction of my income, as well as a supplemental short term disability program offered by my company which supplemented the state insurance to provide up to 60% of my income total, again kicking in one week after hospitalization. I also pay for a long term disability program myself, which will provide a significant percent of my income until I reach retirement age if I become disabled and cannot work in my profession anymore -- that doesn't kick in for two or three months, depending on the policy. Yet another protection is provided by some employers by the federal FMLA -- Family Medical Leave Act, which provides (if your employer falls under it's terms -- generally at least 50 employees -- and if you do -- having been employed at least a year full time [I'm not sure my numbers are correct, so you will need to look them up yourself]) that if you cannot work because you are sick or a family member is sick and needs to be cared for by you, you can take up to 3 months UNPAID leave per year and the company cannot fire you. IT IS IMPERATIVE that you look into how you want to coordinate these benefits, taking into account both how you PLAN to recover, and what you might have to do if it takes longer than expected to recover. In some cases, you can't change these horses in midstream. What I did was to take a calculated risk, based on a worst case scenario: I chose to take FMLA (unpaid leave, for myself) AND short-term disability, both state and the company's plan. That way, I was unpaid for one week, and the second week the two disability plans kicked in to pay me 60% of my usual salary. I did not use or lose any of my PTO (Paid Time Off, a combination sick leave/vacation leave time off that my company used -- they didn't track these separately) to keep my 100% pay for the time I was out, because I hoped it wouldn't be that long, and I had some cash in the bank to cover the shortfall in the short run. What I was worried about was IF I ended up having a protracted recovery, that I would exhaust my sick leave and then would have trouble starting up my disability after that for a month if it didn't kick in with my hospitalization (there is a 30 day waiting period if the disability period doesn't start with a hospitalization). There can be other considerations. Say you think things are not going well at work -- either you think your boss is going to use your absence as an excuse for firing you or including you in a layoff. In that case, you probably do NOT want to just be off on sick leave, which offers you no protections, but rather on disability -- this status MAY provide you with some protections. What you probably REALLY don't want to have happen is to have run out of sick leave and not be on disability -- i.e., be on unpaid leave, but not falling under FMLA -- when they decide to can you. Then you might not even be at work (or protected by disability) when the last day of work comes, and they might not even have to give you notice or pay you severence! In my case, I was only out three weeks; I got $0 the first week, and 60% of my salary weeks 2-3. Six months later, my company had a massive layoff, including me, and I had 7 weeks of PTO saved up to soften the blow -- it was paid in cash, as I hadn't spent ANY of it on my surgery. YOUR SITUATION MAY VARY!! My point is, look into this carefully before you decide how you want to structure your time off. Remember also that in no case do you have to disclose to your company WHAT surgery you are having -- HIPAA covers everyone (and frankly, it really IS none of their business). All they need to know -- even if you are a self-pay -- is that it is medically necessary (you will need a letter from your PCP if not your surgeon) to prove it, and it can say something to the effect that you have to have a medically necessary surgery that will require 4-8 weeks recouperation before you can return to work. If you go back earlier, great. If you need more time, you can get another note. Do your own due diligence on what would be best for you in your cir****tances. What I have mentioned above is only illustrative of the kinds of situations you may wish to consider. And PLAN AHEAD!

I hate when I see my typos AFTER I post: MUTUALLY ITS (without the apostrophe in the possessive). I'll fix it before I post it on the main board ...

Thanks for the info. I am planning on using sick leave/disability and hoping for the best. I had both my knees replaced a couple years ago and was off 12 weeks with full pay, which was wonderful, but I think my company will not look favorably on me for another surgery and 3-4 weeks off. We did have a significant downsizing about 18 months ago which I barely escaped and the corporate atmosphere is very unforgiving. It has taken me a couple years to decide that BS is what I need to do and I am going to go for it and deal with the fallout as it comes. I know that under the "right to work" provision I can be let go for no reason and I can only hope that medically necessary surgery doesn't trigger it. I do wonder if you get severence pay if they let you go, but I don't want to ask and bring any attention to myself. The other thing is that a lot of people who were downsized are now happier and better paid in other jobs, so you never know what will turn out to be a blessing. It has not been fun to still have my job and absorb all the extra work of the ones who were let go. The company doesn't give a fig that we are overworked and burned out by never getting our work done or keeping current and there is hell to pay for not covering what used to be done by several more people. ugh ugh ugh. One day at a time, Starr

I work for a government contractor that is wonderful! I am on 100% short term disability (they were kind enough to include my travelling time) while I'm out for surgery. Should there be complications that would cause me to be off work for 180 days or more, I would be switched over to Long Term Disability leave. This policy was a major influence on me when I chose to go to work for them, as the company I left did NOT offer short term disability insurance coverage at all. By all means, if someone is having surgery (of any kind) they should check to see if their state offers disability payments or if their company has a policy for it.

This is good info Diana. As an HR professional, I want to note one thing - your company has the right to count your disability or sick leave against your FMLA entitlement, even if you don't ask for it. If you are notified, then the 12 week clock is ticking. This is important to know. Over the course of the years I've had folks looking for their 12 unpaid weeks after their disability was up - even though we told them they would be running concurrently. It's so important to understand your specific situation - I would highly encourage each person to take the time to ask questions, and if you still aren't sure, ask more. Sharon

hi there... first off...thanks for the great post about the disability...that brought up a question I have... I am having surgery in Nebraska...but live in southern California...would the surgeon be the doctor who fills out the paperwork...or would it be the doctor doing my follow up care? anybody have an idea? thanks bunches! ~Christine

I don't think it matters. Whoever would be easiest to get a note from before surgery and if you needed to extend your leave, so whoever is most accessible.

THE RULES FOR FMLA WILL BE POSTED ON THE WORK PLACE BULLETIN BOARD ALONG WITH OTHER WORK PLACE RIGHT TO KNOW ACT INFORMATION BULLETINS. SOME BASICS ON FMLA , YOU MUST HAVE HAD PREVIOUS 1200 HOURS OF WORK,IN THE PREVEOUS 12 MONTH PERIOD. THE CONDITON MUST BE CHRONIC, OR SERIOUS OR LIFE INTERFERING. IT CAN BE TAKEN CONSECUTIVELY OR INCREMENTALLY IN UNITS AS SMALL AS 1 HR. UP TO 60 DAYS, PAID OR UNPAID ACCORDING TO REGULAR ESTABLISHED POLICY FOR LEAVE OR SICKNESS. OF THE EMPLOYER WITH OUT REGARD TO SPECIFICALY FMLA. ABSENCES. IT CAN BE TAKEN TO CARE FOR A FAMILY MEMBER WHO CANT CARE FOR THEM SELVES. YOUR SPOSE CAN TAKE THE WEEK OFF TO CARE FOR U WHEN YOU COME HOME. THE 60 DAYS RUN CAN ACCRUE AGAINST A ROLLING YEAR OR FISCAL CALENDAR. ANNUAL PROVIDED IT IS THE SAME AS THE VACATION AND GENERAL BENEFIT CALENDAR, AND IS CONSISTENT,ANY CHANGE SHALL BENEFIT THE EMPLOYEE. STATE FMLA LAWS MAY ONLY ENHANCE THE EMPLOYEE BENEFIT, NOT DEMISE. AND LAST HERE IS THE LINK www.dol.gov/esa/whd/fmla BE UNION AND BE PROUD, AND TELL YOUR RIGHT TO WORK EMPLOYER TO GO TO HELL.