STD eligibility - active ee or not?
dbutton111
165 Posts
We are drafting FMLA and disability procedures and during the course of our discussions have come up with a question none of us can answer completely. Thought I'd try here:
Employee is having a child and applies for FMLA and STD. BEFORE the employee goes on leave, she decides she is not going to come back to work after she has the child. Technically, she has resigned and our company's term date is always last day worked (can't extend term date via vacation or leave). So this employee is terminated the day BEFORE she has the child. This would disqualify her from receiving STD benefits since she is terminated the day before she needs them.
Similar scenario - except she doesn't resign until several weeks after she is out of work. Company's position is the same - her termination date is her last day worked, the day prior to her qualifying for std benefits.
Only way we have thought of for an employee to get paid STD benefits is to actually return to work after her leave is over as an active employee, then resign (or give notice that she will resign) after she is back at work.
But this doesn't happen often, most often the mother decides either before she has the child or shortly after and never returns to work. We've checked out std spd and policy and it doesn't say much the termination date of employment, only that the employee must be considered an active employee on the date of disability.
What are we missing? Or does all the above make sense and we're just too close to it to see the forest?
Employee is having a child and applies for FMLA and STD. BEFORE the employee goes on leave, she decides she is not going to come back to work after she has the child. Technically, she has resigned and our company's term date is always last day worked (can't extend term date via vacation or leave). So this employee is terminated the day BEFORE she has the child. This would disqualify her from receiving STD benefits since she is terminated the day before she needs them.
Similar scenario - except she doesn't resign until several weeks after she is out of work. Company's position is the same - her termination date is her last day worked, the day prior to her qualifying for std benefits.
Only way we have thought of for an employee to get paid STD benefits is to actually return to work after her leave is over as an active employee, then resign (or give notice that she will resign) after she is back at work.
But this doesn't happen often, most often the mother decides either before she has the child or shortly after and never returns to work. We've checked out std spd and policy and it doesn't say much the termination date of employment, only that the employee must be considered an active employee on the date of disability.
What are we missing? Or does all the above make sense and we're just too close to it to see the forest?
Comments
What it sounds like is that the "mother" is wanting to collect STD without having to return to work. If this is the senario, check to see if your STD plan has a portability clause or a conversion option. That way they can get the STD and not worry about the term date.
Other than that, it all sounds really logical to me and a good way to prevent insurance fraud.
What if someone with another disability elected not to return to work after the disability, or became permanently disabled? Would their term date go back to last day worked and would you consider that insurance fraud? You'll get into trouble if treat women out for pregnancy and childbirth differently than people out for other disabilities.