Resignation while on STD

[mnd1234]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NJ

I am out on STD and have been offered a position at a different company. To meet the hire date, I need to give (my 2 wk) notice one week before I am scheduled to return from STD. This will leave me with only one week to be back at work before the termination date. I have several questions:

1) Do I have to pay back any of the STD, particularly the final week (of STD) once I give notice?
2) I have seen my current company terminate employees on the same day that they give their resignation. If this happens to me, will my STD not be covered that final week (if I am no longer an employee)?
3) Should I try to get my doctor to send me back to work one week earlier so that I am in the office for the two weeks before the termination date? (in case this solution does not interfere with STD payments)

Thanks.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[cbg]

1) WHERE do so many people get the idea that they will have to pay back STD benefits? I've worked in benefits for 30+ years and I have NEVER even heard a SUGGESTION that STD benefits would have to be paid back if you leave. NO!!!! YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO PAY BACK YOUR STD BENEFITS!!! Why won't anyone believe me?????? (Or at least use the freakin' search feature?)*

2.) That is entirely a feature of your STD policy, which I have not read. It would be quite unusual for benefits to stop on your last day of employment, but it is not altogether unheard of. Only someone who has read your policy can say for certain.*

3.) Only if you want to cast doubt on the validity of your STD claim.

* There are occasionally policies in which STD benefits stop on the last day of employment. They are rare. They are very rare. But my current employer's policy has such a provision so I can't say it's impossible. NO policies ever require the payback of STD benefits. That would be a contradiction of what STD is designed to do. The law gives the employer the right to ask for health insurance premiums (NOT health insurance benefits) in the event that an employee voluntarily does not return to work. But asking for PREMIUMS and asking for the RETURN OF ALREADY PAID BENEFITS are ENTIRELY different things.

 

[mnd1234]

cbg, thank you for your response.

I did search the forum on STD before posting my question, but most posts have to do with being terminated by the employer while out on STD rather than choosing to resign while out, and I was unclear if that made a difference.

Also, I did not think I had to pay back the STD but my question was really around paying back PART of it, particularly after the notice is given to the current employer.

Thanks for your perspective on the other questions. It helps me proceed as I mentally prepare to tender my resignation.

 

[swalsh411]

mentally prepare to tender my resignation.

You're making too big of a deal about it. People change jobs all the time. The Earth will not shift in it's orbit because you got a new job.

 

[cbg]

You will not have to pay back one. single. penny. of your STD benefits.

Will you explain something to me, please? This is a sincere request. I would really like to understand where people get the idea that STD benefits would EVER have to be paid back after the fact. Where, exactly, is this idea
originating?

I'm not yelling at you. (Not right now, at least ) I would truly like to know so that maybe I would have a better idea how to combat this prevalent but entirely erroneous idea that so many people seem to have.

 

[mnd1234]

The reasons I was questioning paying back STD was because of the following:

- I have never been out on STD so the whole process is new to me.
- I was fairly certain that I did not have to pay back the benefits that have already been paid to me because in every paycheck I put into the disability insurance.
- However, once I tender my resignation, I have one more week of STD that is scheduled to be paid. By handing my notice, I am signalling that I wish to sever my ties with the company. I do not know what this means in terms of the STD benefits that are yet to be paid and that I am receiving through the company.
- There is the added issue that the company may elect to terminate my employment during that final week of me being out, and I was unclear whether or not I would have to pay back this week (or days) BECAUSE I would not be employed at the company. Also I do not know if the company can somehow retaliate for that final week because I have given my notice.

Those are the reasons I asked the question. Unlike other posts, this was not a question of the company initiating the end of our employer/employee relationship, but of me initiating it. I did not know if this made a difference.

Hope his helps. I don't know if my reasons are representative of why others would ask the question.

 

[Zigner]

I'm wondering why the OP thinks s/he needs to give notice...

 

[cbg]

As long as you are employed and still eligible (in the sense that you are still disabled) for the STD benefits, your STD carrier by contract must still pay them. As I said, the possibity exists (but it is unlikely) that benefits may stop with employment, but whether they will or not will be determined again by the contract/policy. The employer and carrier MUST follow that - they cannot "retaliate" by refusing you benefits for that last week (or beyond) if the policy says you are due them. While employee manuals are rarely contracts, insurance policies ARE contracts. It makes a difference.

Thank you for your explanation.

 

[asiny]

I'm wondering why the OP thinks s/he needs to give notice...

I was just thinking that myself Zig... Giving 2 weeks notice is NOT a requirement. It is a professional courtesy.
However there are, possible, caveats. On your acceptance contract did it state 2 weeks notice must be given? I write 'possible' because New Jersey is an 'at-will' state and the employee (or employer) can terminate without notice.

As others have posted, if your employer terminates your employment (effective immediately) upon you tendering your resignation, then your benefits could discontinue. Can you financially support yourself between the last pay cheque and the new one?

 

[startedone]

Oh, they will fire you the second you give notice. So, you want the week(s) of STD? Then quit on the last day possible. Don't worry, companies fire people and boot them out that second ... its business.

 

[cbg]

And of course, startedone is talking nonsense as usual. Yes, there are some companies that will accept your resignation early; by no means all of them will.

And in 30+ years of administering employer sponsored benefits, the ONLY employer I have EVER seen where disabilty benefits stop when employment ends is my current employer - and even here it only happens in some situations.