Short term Disability / LOA + Benefits Question

[sammy101]

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

I have been on FMLA and short term disability (STD), approved at same time since July. My STD has to be renewed every month with notes/forms from my doctor. My STD is approved from a third party insurance company however the paycheck comes from my employer. I also accrue vacation+PH hours and 401k with my paychecks while Im on STD.
I have decided to leave the company, but I have a few questions to ease my mind whilst quitting. My questions are:

1. Do i have to give a 2 week notice while on FMLA/STD? If i give a 2 week notice does my STD/FMLA end that day i give the notice? and can they stop my STD payment straight away?

2.As i am getting and building up 401k and vacation hours while on STD and since I do not plan to return to work, will they pay out my vacation hours (currently have 50h+) and will i still get my 401k when I leave? Or can they deny that as I do not return to work?

3. Since i don't plan to return to work is there a possibility I have to pay back the STD benefits they have given to me over the past months?

4. I am still paying my part of the premium for my health insurance from my paycheck (STD income) every 2 weeks, I wanted to ask if I have to repay back my employers part of my health insurance premium as I am on FMLA and don't return to work?

I have read my company's STD policy, however i could not find the answers to the above question. I would be much grateful if you are able to answer my questions and settle my mind. Thanks in advance

 

[cbg]

1.) There are no circumstances whatsoever, short of a legally binding and enforceable contract that expressly says otherwise, where the law requires that you give any notice at all. It's a courtesy, but it's not required. I can see no reason for your employer to continue your FMLA once they know you are not returning - nor do I see any benefit to you either way. FMLA protects your job for you; you have voluntarily surrendered it. You have no further need of FMLA. Your STD benefits will end when the policy says they end. I have not read your policy.

2.) In your state your employer is not obligated to pay out your vacation time unless they choose to do so. I have no way of knowing what they will choose to do. As far as your 401(k) is concerned you cannot lose any portion of it that is vested, although any distribution will be subject to the plan rules (which again I have not read). If there is any portion of the 401(k) that is not vested, then yes, you will lose that.

3.) No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don't know who first started that rumor all over the internet but there is NO truth to it whatsoever. There is no possibility WHATSOEVER that you will have to repay your STD benefits.

4/) I cannot say the same for any health insurance premiums the employer may have paid on your behalf. They MAY ask you to repay those. Just because they MAY, does not mean they WILL. And we are ONLY talking about premiums, NOT benefits.

 

[sammy101]

1.) There are no circumstances whatsoever, short of a legally binding and enforceable contract that expressly says otherwise, where the law requires that you give any notice at all. It's a courtesy, but it's not required. I can see no reason for your employer to continue your FMLA once they know you are not returning - nor do I see any benefit to you either way. FMLA protects your job for you; you have voluntarily surrendered it. You have no further need of FMLA. Your STD benefits will end when the policy says they end. I have not read your policy.

2.) In your state your employer is not obligated to pay out your vacation time unless they choose to do so. I have no way of knowing what they will choose to do. As far as your 401(k) is concerned you cannot lose any portion of it that is vested, although any distribution will be subject to the plan rules (which again I have not read). If there is any portion of the 401(k) that is not vested, then yes, you will lose that.

3.) No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don't know who first started that rumor all over the internet but there is NO truth to it whatsoever. There is no possibility WHATSOEVER that you will have to repay your STD benefits.

4/) I cannot say the same for any health insurance premiums the employer may have paid on your behalf. They MAY ask you to repay those. Just because they MAY, does not mean they WILL. And we are ONLY talking about premiums, NOT benefits.

Thanks cbg for your super quick reply.

For my 401K, i contribute 5% and my employers matches that. I know that I have the choice to cash this out as soon as I resign/quit or transfer this to another 401k account. But I was not sure about the amount my employer has matched (5%) over the last few months while I was on STD, whether or not they will pay me this if i choose to cash this amount out.


For 3). My reason for asking if there was a possibility that I owe the STD money back that i have received over the past months was because I read in my STD policy that:
" WHEN DOES COVERAGE END? You leave the Company—STD ends on the last day worked whether your employment ended voluntarily (includes
retirement) or involuntarily"
So i was not sure if it meant that if I do not return to work, even for one day, they may consider my STD benefits to have ended when I last worked back in July.

Thanks for clarifying this.

 

[cbg]

401(k)s are highly regulated at the Federal level. I have not read your plan document and do not know your vesting schedule. Everything that you put in is 100% vested immediately. The amount the employer puts in vests according to the way the plan document says it does. It is highly unlikely that the amount your employer puts in vests immediately. It is not impossible under the law but plans where that happens are few and far between. On the other hand, it is possible that you have been with the employer long enough for the full amount to have vested. It's simply impossible for a message board to say with the available facts. You WILL lose any portion that is not vested. This would happen regardless of whether you were on medical leave or not. ANY time you leave, you lose the non-vested portion. (Exceptions can, but not necessarily do, apply in the event of plant closings or employer-sponsored early retirement packages - I add this for the purists.)

This is where your FMLA protects you. As far as your benefits are concerned, you have been at work all the time you've been on FMLA.

 

[cbg]

Okay, now I have time to do a more thorough answer.

FMLA protects your benefits. An employee who is on FMLA cannot have their benefits treated any differently than an employee who is actively working.

However, the statement you are looking at is not really talking about people who are currently on STD when they leave. What it's saying is that there is no COBRA; there is no grace period; there is no option to continue paying premiums to continue your STD policy after you leave. Your STD benefit option is for your term of employment and no more.

However, most of the time (I cannot say all of the time for certain) if you are collecting STD benefits at the time you leave, the benefits do not stop until either the term of STD expires (usually 26 weeks but can be as short as 13 or as long as 52) or when you have improved to the point where you no longer qualify as disabled under the policy definition. This is not true 100% of the time. For YEARS I assured posters on this and other boards that in decades of employee benefit administration I had never seen a policy where benefits end when your employment did. Well, now I have. So since I haven't read your policy, I can't say with absolute assurance that your benefits won't end on your last day of employment. I can, however, assure you with 100% certainty that you will not have to repay the benefits you have already received. Even if it were not for FMLA, I would feel safe in saying that never in the history of the world has there been a policy written where that was a provision. With FMLA...dead certain.

 

[sammy101]

Okay, now I have time to do a more thorough answer.

FMLA protects your benefits. An employee who is on FMLA cannot have their benefits treated any differently than an employee who is actively working.

However, the statement you are looking at is not really talking about people who are currently on STD when they leave. What it's saying is that there is no COBRA; there is no grace period; there is no option to continue paying premiums to continue your STD policy after you leave. Your STD benefit option is for your term of employment and no more.

However, most of the time (I cannot say all of the time for certain) if you are collecting STD benefits at the time you leave, the benefits do not stop until either the term of STD expires (usually 26 weeks but can be as short as 13 or as long as 52) or when you have improved to the point where you no longer qualify as disabled under the policy definition. This is not true 100% of the time. For YEARS I assured posters on this and other boards that in decades of employee benefit administration I had never seen a policy where benefits end when your employment did. Well, now I have. So since I haven't read your policy, I can't say with absolute assurance that your benefits won't end on your last day of employment. I can, however, assure you with 100% certainty that you will not have to repay the benefits you have already received. Even if it were not for FMLA, I would feel safe in saying that never in the history of the world has there been a policy written where that was a provision. With FMLA...dead certain.

Thanks for your reply. Now it makes more sense about the benefits being protected while on FMLA. I also managed to find out that my 401k contribution is vested 100% from both contributions the employee and employer. So the full amount should be available when i resign.

 

[sammy101]

Okay, now I have time to do a more thorough answer.

FMLA protects your benefits. An employee who is on FMLA cannot have their benefits treated any differently than an employee who is actively working.

However, the statement you are looking at is not really talking about people who are currently on STD when they leave. What it's saying is that there is no COBRA; there is no grace period; there is no option to continue paying premiums to continue your STD policy after you leave. Your STD benefit option is for your term of employment and no more.

However, most of the time (I cannot say all of the time for certain) if you are collecting STD benefits at the time you leave, the benefits do not stop until either the term of STD expires (usually 26 weeks but can be as short as 13 or as long as 52) or when you have improved to the point where you no longer qualify as disabled under the policy definition. This is not true 100% of the time. For YEARS I assured posters on this and other boards that in decades of employee benefit administration I had never seen a policy where benefits end when your employment did. Well, now I have. So since I haven't read your policy, I can't say with absolute assurance that your benefits won't end on your last day of employment. I can, however, assure you with 100% certainty that you will not have to repay the benefits you have already received. Even if it were not for FMLA, I would feel safe in saying that never in the history of the world has there been a policy written where that was a provision. With FMLA...dead certain.

Just to follow up. After I resign this position and if I were to seek employment else where, does FMLA or STD follow you around? can my previous employer disclose that I was on STD / FMLA to my new employer? or do i have to declare this?

Also, does my doctor who signed my FMLA and STD on my current job have to release me (declare me fit to work ) before i seek employment elsewhere?

thanks

 

[cbg]

Your current employer can say that you were on medical leave. It's really immaterial whether you were on FMLA, STD, both or neither. If you are currently able to work, it's going to be a non-issue to any prospective employer.

Neither FMLA nor STD is portable. You do not take it with you when you move to a new employer. Federal law requires that you re-qualify if you change employers. STD plans are employer-specific.

There is not a law that requires your doctor to release you before you can apply for other work; however, I don't know how interested a new employer is going to be in hiring someone who is not yet released for work.

ETA: The above should not be interpreted to mean that your STD benefits will stop if you resign your current employment. While that is possible, it is unlikely. Generally your STD benefits continue regardless of employment status until you no longer qualify. (ONLY your plan administrator or HR personnel can give you an exact answer to your particular plan.) But once you change employers, you are subject to the new employer's plan, if any, rather than the old employer's.

 

[sammy101]

Your current employer can say that you were on medical leave. It's really immaterial whether you were on FMLA, STD, both or neither. If you are currently able to work, it's going to be a non-issue to any prospective employer.

Neither FMLA nor STD is portable. You do not take it with you when you move to a new employer. Federal law requires that you re-qualify if you change employers. STD plans are employer-specific.

There is not a law that requires your doctor to release you before you can apply for other work; however, I don't know how interested a new employer is going to be in hiring someone who is not yet released for work.

ETA: The above should not be interpreted to mean that your STD benefits will stop if you resign your current employment. While that is possible, it is unlikely. Generally your STD benefits continue regardless of employment status until you no longer qualify. (ONLY your plan administrator or HR personnel can give you an exact answer to your particular plan.) But once you change employers, you are subject to the new employer's plan, if any, rather than the old employer's.

Back again .....Okay so i am now looking for employment. I was on STD for 4 month and then I resigned my position. So now when I am applying for new jobs online and on my resume, do I include the time I was on STD within the dates of my employment? For example I started my previous job in June 2014 and was on STD from July 2015 - Oct 2015 and then resigned. So do I put down the dates of my employment as June 2014 - Oct 2015?

I have heard that many large companies use external companies for background check and employment verification. Do you know what kind of information they get on the employment verification report they request? is it only dates of employment? also will it include the time i was on STD?

Thanks

 

[cbg]

There isn't a hard and fast rule about this and it's really going to be up to your former employer how to classify that time. There is no right or wrong in this instance - they're allowed to do it either way and I wouldn't want to guess which way it would go. If a background check is done, it will provide the dates that your former employer reports.