"Blended" short term disability and sick leave?

aquilegia

Does anyone have experience with using paid sick leave to supplement STD ? I'll be having a mastectomy/DIEP reconstruction, which could be up to 6 weeks off of work (I'm hoping to return at 4 weeks). My company's self-insured California STD pays 55% of salary, but is capped, so I'd be losing a lot of pay. I have 4 weeks of sick leave banked that I'd like to use to supplement the STD. I have read that it's sometimes possible to use sick leave to make up the difference. Has anyone done that, or been told that you could not do it?

artistatheart

Hi aquilegia,

it seems as if these policies are so varied from company to corporation eat that it is hard to pin down individual instances. i would check with your HR person. They should know all the ins and outs...

NancyHB

I had to use up my sick time before my LTD would kick in (my sick time was my STD). Like you I worried about the reduction in salary (LTD only pays 66% of base salary) but discovered that my LTD check was very close to my previous check because there were no deductions for insurance, retirement, etc. it wasn't as bad as I had feared, and was even more helpful when I ended up needing extra time off due to a post-operative infection.

My surgeon required a minimum of 6 weeks off post-op, saying most people are at about 75% by then. I don't know that I would have been able to go back to work at four weeks; I wasn't able to stand up straight until three weeks, and didn't have nearly as much stamina as I'd hoped for. With my infection and re-hospitalization x 2, I ended up taking 10 weeks off. You might want to check with your surgeon regarding your anticipated timeframe, it might not be completely realistic. It's a huge surgery, and recovery is very slow.

I wish you much luck and speedy healing!

pajim

aquilegia, I second the suggestion of talking with your HR department. If they're not helpful, can your supervisor advocate for you?

My company also self-insures for STD, and they've made all sorts of accommodations for me. Often companies want to help, you just have to ask.

[I do agree that some companies are not helpful, but you don't know that yet]

aquilegia

Happily, I can report that my employer is quite flexible - they will let me use sick leave to supplement short-term disability and to cover premiums, which aren't paid while on leave. Getting the paperwork I need out of Kaiser was challenging - they will use only their own FMLA forms, and the sequence of requests to start a claim was very confusing. But I figured it out, finally.