Colorado Short Term Disability
Posted by Tamara
The state of Colorado does not require that employees get benefits for short-term disabilities.
Colorado is not unusual in this respect. Only five states have passed legislation mandating that employers pay short term Disability to their workers. Those five are New York, Rhode Island, California, Hawaii, and New Jersey. In Rhode Island, employees may receive up to 30 weeks of short term Disability benefits. The benefits are paid for through payroll deductions, much like health insurance in that regard. In the other four states, no such payroll deductions exist, but it is assumed that the employees will receive the paid leave nonetheless.
There are some alternatives for workers in Colorado and the other 44 states that do not require benefits, however. Employees are urged to be proactive, educating themselves about what those benefits may be. They will find it helpful to contact their human resources offices to get the information they need.
Here are some options:
If the injury has occurred on the job, workers’ compensation will pay Disability benefits as well as medical expenses.
The Family and Medical Leave Act, or FMLA is another alternative. This federal law provides workers with unpaid leave for as much as 12 weeks in a year. The leave is “job-protected,” which means that employers may not hire a permanent replacement for a worker who is on FMLA leave. Employers are likely to ask for a doctors’ note regarding the worker’s condition, as a form of proof. In the majority of companies this is standard policy, so that management can verify that a worker is truly ill and entitled to take leave.
A third option is the Pregnancy Disability Act. This may come into play for at least some employees. As a hypothetical example, assume that employee “Julie” is pregnant and works for a firm that offers paid leave to those employees who have disabilities. If that is the case, Julie’s employer is required, in the interests of fairness and balance, to offer the very same benefits to her and all other women on the staff who are pregnant and suffering from a medical condition.
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