Kansas Short Term Disability
Posted by Tamara
There are at least three options open to Kansas employees who need to receive short term disability benefits.
One of the most significant is the Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA. Thanks to this federal law, employees who qualify are entitled to as much as 12 weeks of job-protected leave annually. “Job-protected” refers to the fact that the employer is prohibited from permanently replacing that worker when he or she is on FMLA leave. The employee is guaranteed his or her job back.
Companies usually require a worker to present a doctor’s note saying that he or she has a condition that requires a leave of absence. Employers do this routinely, in order to guarantee that the claim for FMLA is a legitimate one.
It should be noted, however, that FMLA is an unpaid leave of absence.
Under workers’ compensation employees are entitled to disability payments and to coverage of their medical expenses. Workers’ compensation applies when an employee is injured on the job.
Another option, at least for pregnant employees, is the Pregnancy Disability Act. To offer one example, assume employee “Julie” is pregnant and her employer provides paid leaves of absence to workers with other forms of disability. Her employer, then, must do the same for women in the company who are pregnant and experiencing a medical condition.
It may seem unfair to many workers, but Kansas has no law requiring employers to pay benefits for short term leaves of absence. Kansas is no exception to the rule, however. Only five states in the U.S. have passed laws mandating that an employer provide short-term disability for their workers. They are California, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Hawaii. In Rhode Island, which guarantees up to 30 weeks of short term disability benefits annually, workers fund the plan through payroll deductions. In the other states, there is no such legal provision.
Workers are strongly advised to visit their human resources offices to educate themselves thoroughly on the benefits available to them for short term disabilities. Detailed information can be obtained.
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