Hi,
I work for a Fortune 100 company in MA, and I'm 28 weeks pregnant and newly out of work on medical leave for severe sciatica (never had any issues prior to pregnancy). I cannot sit/drive for more than 10 minutes without my entire side going numb (a problem for a long commute and a job that requires me to sit 99% of the time). My doctor and physical therapist both directed me to stop working at this time. My questions are:

1) the standard "maternity" STD benefit for my company is 6 weeks, but I'm assuming that my disabling sciatic condition wouldn't fall under this category? Again, I've got two medical professionals (my OB and my physical therapist) that are filling out the paperwork on this - I'm just nervous because we didn't plan financially for me to leave work so early, and I want to make sure I am doing everything right administratively. According to my company's STD policy, they cover 100% for 60 days, and 60% for the remaining 120 days (6 months max for STD).

2) I had not used any vacation this year (I get 2 weeks). Under my STD plan, the first week is unpaid (I'm using sick time). Do I still get to keep my vacation time to use after the baby is born?

3) Since I still have 11+ weeks to go with the pregnancy, assuming the sciatic condition does not rectify itself, I will exhaust my 12 weeks of FMLA shortly after the baby is born. If my employer chooses not to grant me an extension for my leave (they hopefully will, but just in case), can I still collect my 6 weeks of maternity STD after the baby is born?

Thanks for any insights that you can give.

1.) STD is dollars, not time. The fact that you have two conditions MAY extend the amount of time you have available, but it will not affect the dollar amount that is available to you each week.

2.) That's entirely up to your employer.

3.) Again, that depends on your policy. At the present time (this may eventually change, but not in time for you, sorry) there is no MA paid maternity disability law, so it's going to depend on how your STD policy is written.

Thanks, cbg.

Regarding 1) I totally understand, it's the timeframe that I'm worried about, not the weekly dollar amount. "pregnancy" itself isn't a disability, but I'm thinking that severe sciatica must be a disability, right?

2) The wording of my policy is unclear and everytime I call HR to inquire about something they log my calls to my ID number and I don't want to raise too many red flags. I *think* the two are mutually exclusive, it just doesn't seem fair to wipe out my vacation time, when I could have just as easily used it earlier in the year and come out the same STD-benefit wise.

3) My manager at work said that after the baby is born, a "different kind of STD insurance" kicks in, and the 6 week benefit starts again from there....not sure what to make of this when the STD literature makes it sound like "STD is STD", no matter what the flavor....

1.) I would think so, but I haven't read your disability policy. :)

2.) How and when vacation time can be used is entirely policy driven. MA law is stricter than most about vacation time, but even in MA the law only provides that you can't have a use it or lose it policy, and that unused time is paid out at termination. It does not put any limits on how the employer can require it to be used.

3.) I have no idea what she's referring to, but again, that's going to be a matter of the insurance policy, not law.

On number 3 I think I know what you manager may mean. Typically pregnancy is not a disability. Right now you would be out for sciatica and the pregnancy part is irrelevant. Once the baby is born, yo uwould be out for post partum reasons. It isn't that it is a different STD plan, but you may need to resubmit the medical info as the reason will have changed.

As Cgb pointed out, this doesn't mean you will get this whole time off from work necessarily, it is just that the STD plan will pay you for this time. What your employer approves is a separate issue.

Thank you. ElleMD, you articulated exactly what I was trying to convey...that is my understanding as well. I have a call into my OB to make sure the forms are filled out with the sciatic issue at the forefront (the nurses there fill them out, and I want to make sure that they don't fill them out as they would a "normal" maternity leave claim).