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Short Term Disability and Pregnancy

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Is it a law that you need to be consistent with employees?

One of our employees is going out for cancer treatment and another is going out for maternity leave. Under our certificate of coverage for STD, maternity is covered as any other illness. Our STD pays 60% of your pay up to $500 a week. We are making up the pay difference for the employee going out for cancer treatment through a payroll check- but not for the woman going out for maternity leave. Is this legal?

There is no law that an employer must be consistent with employees. However, there is a law that the employer must provide the same benefits, including paid disability leave, as they do to other employees who are on short term disability. This is under the federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act, or PDA. Most women with a normal delivery are on disability for 4 to 8 weeks. For that period, you must provide the same benefits, including payments, as you do to other employees with a physical disability. The pregnant employee will likely take additional time (up to 12 weeks total) for baby bonding under FMLA or a similar state law. You are not under an obligation to pay her for that time, if you do not pay other employees who take time off under FMLA to care for loved ones.

Also note that the pregnant employee must receive the same benefits as other employees on short term disability. If you permit employees on STD for cancer or a heart attack to use their vacation time, you must permit the pregnant worker to do so, as well. The PDA is enforced by the EEOC. If you continue to pay the employer\\\\\\\’s portion of the health insurance premium for the worker with cancer, you must also pay it for the pregnant worker. Not doing so is pregnancy discrimination.

This would be true, even if you currently had no other employees on STD. Any benefits that have been provided to disabled workers in the past, must apply to pregnant workers.

Read more about pregnancy discrimination from the EEOC: http://www.eeoc.gov/types/pregnancy.html