Human Resource Blog

Short Term Disability - Ohio Employer

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I recently had surgery. My surgeon recommended that I take 2 weeks off from work. I pay for short-term disability benefits through my employer, so I inquired as to my options available. I was told that I would have to be off for a minimum of 8 days before the benefit would kick in. I then inquired if the time I would need to take off would go against my existing pers/vac time. I was told that it would. What didn’t make sense to me was why, if I have the benefit would I lose my personal time. At which time I was told that I would get paid for the pers/vac time with the short-term benefit to be paid in addition to. Is this legal? or is it on a company basis? In the past, I worked for a company in which I had short term coverage. I had to use my alotted sick days (5) before the benefit would take effect. I was off of work for a total of 8 weeks. Yet, I still had the remaining pers/vac time available. I just don’t understand. It sounds fishy to me. Can anyone offer some assistance? Thank you.

What seems fishy in this case is that the answer seemed to change after you objected. It would appear that the HR person doesn’t know the answers to your questions, and is just guessing.

The policies at the previous employer have nothing to do with the policies at the current employer.

The most important consideration here is the type of insurance. If the employee has short term disability insurance through an insurance company, the insurance policy establishes the rules of coverage.

Many short term disability insurance policies do specify that a worker has to exhaust all his or her available sick or personal time before collecting benefits. This is simply a way for the insurance company to control costs and make the premiums more affordable. The insurance booklet should contain all of this information. If not, the best suggestion is for the employee to contact the insurance company directly to get the details of the plan.

Almost every short term disability insurance policy specifies that the worker cannot recieve benefits if he or she is being paid for sick time or personal time. So, no, collecting both would probably not be legal. It would be insurance fraud.

 

It is possible that the HR person meant that you would be able to use sick time or personal time for 8 work days, and then receive short term benefits for the 2 remaining work days.

 

It is also possible that the HR person thought that you were asking, “May I use personal days or vacation days for the initial 8 days of disability, so that I am paid?” rather than, “Can I take this time unpaid?”

If the insurance policy doesn’t require the employee to use all his or her sick time or personal time before receiving benefits, then the employee should be able to take unpaid time off under FMLA. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 specifies that employees can take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for a serious health condition. Some employers count paid leave towards the FMLA total, however, they must inform the employee in advance. Other employers permit a worker to exhaust their paid leave before beginning the 12 weeks of unpaid FMLA.

When the employee returns from FMLA leave, any accrued paid leave must be restored.

A few employers offer short term disability benefits that are paid by the employer. In those cases, the employer can establish whatever policies he or she chooses regarding the benefits. Normally, those policies will be spelled out in an employee handbook. It is very common in those cases for the employer to require that the worker exhaust their sick and personal time before paying short term disability benefits.