Is it possible for Alaska workers to be terminated for taking too much time off of work, even if they are receiving short-term disability benefits? This question, as well as many others, has some workers confused about exactly what their rights are in regards to this issue.

The reality, however, is that these are actually two different issues. On the one hand is short-term disability. On the other is time away from the workplace. Believe it or not, it is possible for a worker to receive disability compensation, but still wind up losing his or her position.

This is true after an auto accident or almost any other non-work-related injury.

It is true that short-term disability payments are given to employees when they are not able to work. What some people do not understand is that these types of policies offer no extra protection over and above FMLA when it comes to jobs.

Insurance coverage of all types, including short-term disability, varies between employers. The plan a particular employer chooses determines how many weeks of benefits workers may receive. A typical range is between 13 and 26 weeks.

In five states of the Union, the situation is completely different. In New York, California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Hawaii, state mandated short-term disability plans are required.

Employers are legally allowed to count paid leave as FMLA. To do this, employers have to provide workers with written notification before the period of leave commences. In this notification, it should clearly state that the worker’s period of leave would be counted towards his or her FMLA allotment for the year.

An advantage to doing this is that FMLA offers workers job-protected leave. If qualified, workers may take up to 12 weeks of leave per year. Of course, this leave is generally unpaid.

To avoid any potential charges of illegal discrimination, employers need to be careful when offering paid leave under FMLA to workers. If it were offered to one employee, then it would likely be considered discriminatory to deny the same benefit to other workers.

Last 10 posts by Tamara

• Disciplinary Notices in Texas - April 21st, 2008
• Texas ADA - April 21st, 2008
• Age Discrimination in Tennessee - April 21st, 2008
• Religious Discrimination in Nevada - April 21st, 2008
• Intermittent FMLA in Michigan - April 21st, 2008
• Age Discrimination in Texas - April 18th, 2008
• Disciplinary Notices in Rhode Island - April 18th, 2008
• Nevada ADA - April 18th, 2008
• Religious Discrimination in Maryland - April 18th, 2008
• Intermittent FMLA in Maine - April 18th, 2008

This entry was posted on Monday, April 7th, 2008 at 6:49 pm and is filed under Accidents & Injury Laws, Auto Accident Laws. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.