North Dakota STD and Termination
Posted by Tamara
North Dakota workers are curious about the details of short-term disability. Can a worker who has taken 11 weeks of short term disability, go on disability again? Also, can a worker on disability be terminated for taking too much time from work?
These questions address two different questions: compensation and job security. Depending on the situation, the answers to these questions may vary. It could be possible for an employee receiving disability payment to be terminated.
Short term disability is an insurance program which provides money for employees when they are unable to work. This insurance, however, does not guarantee the worker will keep his or her job.
Even if short term disability if obtained through work, it is considered private insurance, and the benefits depend upon the coverage provided by the specific plan. Employees who want detailed information on their coverage should contact their HR department, call the insurance company, or read the insurance booklet.
Several plans grant payments for 13 to 26 weeks per year. For the North Dakota worker in the above scenario, he or she could still have 2 to 15 weeks of coverage. If the employee worked in California, Rhode Island, Hawaii, New York or New Jersey, though, the answer might be different. These five states have mandatory short term disability benefits under their state plan.
The second issue of job security depends on how the leave was taken. If the company considered the worker to be on FMLA (Family Medical and Leave Act), then that worker has only one week of leave left. In addition, the employee could not be terminated. FMLA leave is job-protected, unpaid and allows up to 12 weeks of leave.
To be on FMLA leave, the business must inform the work in writing that his or her disability time off will be counted toward FMLA. If the employee isn’t informed ahead of time, the company can not count the leave to FMLA retroactively.
If the company did not put the worker on FMLA leave, then the employee still has the right to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave.
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