I have a question about maternity benefits offered through employer's Short Disability program. I am employed by an outsourcing company who provides personel to a larger corporation. My direct employer lost the contract & I, together w/other cooworkers were hired by another company. We all still work at same location w/ same job duties. I had Short Term Disability w/ my previous company (which I never had to use), but when I was rehired by the new company, we received the offer to enroll in Short Term Disability program after 6 month (we were not given any info on any available programs until then) ... At that time I was pregnant already. Since I had a "preexisting condition", as I was told by company's HR representative,enrolling into Short Term Disability program now would not cover my pregnancy leave. Is it company's responsability to pay my maternity leave in this case?

Is it company's responsability to pay my maternity leave in this case? No. If you don't qualify for STD benefits that is unfortunate but that doesn't obligate your employer to pay for your leave time.

Victoria --

What state are you located in? Five states require employers to provide STD for maternity leave -- if you are in one of those, then you may have coverage under the state plan if you do not have coverage under an employer-purchased plan.

Cynthia
www.worklifelaw.org


*The foregoing is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.