Federal Short Term Disability
Posted by Tamara
Employees in the US are strongly encouraged to keep themselves informed and up-to-date on their rights to short-term disability benefits.
Human Resources offices are the best locations for garnering detailed and useful information about such benefits.
One of the first things workers will discover is the disappointing fact that most states do does not have any legislation requiring that employees receive benefits when they are suffering from a short term disability. In addition, there is no federal legislation that requires this.
That in itself is not unusual. Only five states in the U.S. have laws mandating short term disability benefits.
Those states are New York, California, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Hawaii. Rhode Island’s legislation provides for short term disability benefits for up to 30 weeks. Workers, however, are expected to fund the disability plan through payroll deductions, not unlike health insurance premiums in that regard. In the other four states, it is assumed that the employer will shoulder the burden of the benefits.
This does not mean that workers have no recourse. In fact, they have at least three options.
If an employee is injured on the job, he or she may be eligible for workers’ compensation, sometimes referred to as “workers’ comp” or “workmen’s comp.” It may pay not only short term disability benefits but cover medical expenses as well.
Another option for many workers is the federal Family and Medical Leave Act, frequently called FMLA. Under the FMLA, a worker is entitled to as much as 12 weeks of unpaid leave annually. The leave is “job-protected,” meaning an employee on FMLA leave is guaranteed his or her job back when returning to work. The employer may not hire a permanent replacement. Most employers require a doctor’s note certifying that the condition requires that the employee take leave time. This is standard procedure companies use to ensure that the leave request is legitimate.
In addition, pregnant workers may be eligible for leave benefits under the Pregnancy Disability Act. As a hypothetical example, assume employee “Julie” works for a company that provides paid leave to workers with other disabilities. The federal law requires that pregnant women receive the same benefits.
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