maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

I posted these exact questions in another post but thought more people would see it this way -



Those who are well versed in FMLA (cant believe I dont remember this) can you collect private short term disability while on FMLA and also collect NYS at the same time?

Also, is it true that you have to burn all vacation/sick time before FMLA kicks in? If this is true, would I use my 4 weeks and then get an additional 12 for FMLA or do my 4 weeks vacation/sick time count towards FMLA?

maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

my HR person said I only had to use all my sick before FMLA kicks in, if i use vacation I could not collect short term disability because it has to be unpaid to collect.

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

that what i understood from what my HR person told me

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

i was told i do NOT have to use all my sick time before FMLA kicks in.

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

interesting. i guess i need to have a convo with HR

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

Every company has a slightly different policy. I'd check with your HR rep.

Just wanted to point out that if you use your 4 weeks of vacation AND FMLA (if your company allows that) then you'll have no vacation left for the remainder of the year. I personally know I'll still need days off here and there.

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

It depends on your employer. Most employers require you to use accrued time concurrently with FMLA. Once you use up the accrued time, the rest of the 12 weeks is unpaid.

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

Definitely check with your company because i got all the rules for mine yesterday and it says...

"Once no longer medically disabled, the remainder of the FMLA will be unpaid unless the employee wishes to use their available vacation/personal time.

Employee’s cannot extend their FMLA leave by using previously accrued vacation time, and/or a Personal leave of absence."

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

I agree that every company is different, but here's how it was explained to me.

FMLA gives me the ability to be out a max of 12 weeks, without losing my job.

For my first week 5 days OOO, I need to use my own PTO to cover (i.e., sick days, vacation days, etc). Then, my company's maternity leave kicks in, and I get either 6 or 8 weeks paid depending on severity of condition. After that, I can either choose to receive FMLA payments for the balance of the 12 weeks (which is somewhere between $150 - $250 a week), or use my own vacation which is full pay. It's at my discretion.

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

thanks all, i see how it really varies by company. i will contact HR

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

I am a salaried employee, so I don't know if the rules of sick time would be different...

But for me, the first 5 days I am out are counted as sick time, and then my disability kicks in.

FMLA and disability run concurrently. I will have 8 weeks paid on disability since I'm having a c-section. The remaining 4 weeks I will be out on FMLA (for a total of 12 weeks on FMLA).

If I want to stay out longer, I could use my vacation time, but it would need to be approved by my manager. As with all vacation, it is at manager's discretion and needs to be approved. So it's not a given that I will be allowed to take off more time. Depending on the amount of time I have available to me, I may save my vacation days for when the baby gets sick or for doctors appts. They are already trying to find coverage for me when I'm out, so I can't imagine that they will be all too pleased about me extending my time off.

Message edited 8/23/2012 10:21:30 AM.

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

For me they exhausted my sick time THEN my fmla kicked in. I took 12 weeks but had a c section so they took 4 weeks of my sick time (thank god i had that banked LOL) and the remaining 8 weeks FMLA kicked in. IF i wanted to use my vacation or personal time i had to contact my HR DEPT.


With my place of business I had to come back after 12 weeks.

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

check with your employer because everyone is different, when my mom got sick, she had to burn through ALL of her vacation/sick/personal time before the FMLA would kick in. She was left with no time afterwards and hard to start accruing time all over again

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

I have to use 5 days before disability kicks in.. then my 8 weeks.. then another 4 weeks of FMLA at partial pay.

maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

I am originally from LI and lived in DC for two years to get my masters at Georgetown and while there, I was working. However, I quit my job and DH and I moved back to LI so we could start our family here. My HR department had told me that for their company, if I wanted to use PTO (paid time off) during the 12 week FMLA then I could, or I could use STD. Or I could just use STD if I so chose, but either way it was concurrent with FMLA. So I would only be getting 12 weeks no matter what.

I cannot stress enough that EVERY COMPANY IS DIFFERENT. The FMLA portion is federal law and ONLY states that a mother is entitled to 12 weeks of unpaid leave once the baby is born. The only thing the FMLA does is hold your job for 12 weeks. It has absolutely nothing to do with pay - that is on a company by company basis. (And FMLA only stands if you've been with the company for at least one year AND the company is a certain size, though I don't remember the number of required employees.)

Message edited 8/23/2012 10:34:18 AM.

maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

You do not have to use your sick or vacation time, but you can. If you do, then your NYS disability benefits are cut and you can't collect those on top of your salary. I am using my sick time only. I'm using vacation time at the end of my 12 weeks to add an additional 2 to my time off.

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

It really depends on you company... I actually just called HR to confirm mine:

Total/MAXIMUM of 12 weeks it is all considered to count towards FMLA:

-week 1 - use sick/personal time
-then 5-7 weeks of 100% pay short term disability
-remaining 6-8 weeks up the max 12 will be unpaid unless we choose to use vacation as part of that time in order to get paid.

Re: maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

Check with your HR person. In my case my STD ran concurrent with my FMLA. I did not have to use my PTO (we don't have sep vaca/sick time) first. My STD policy paid me less what the state would pay....I got 2 separate checks but 100% of my pay (if that makes sense).

Each policy is different though so check with HR.

maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

Every company has different rules pertaining to FMLA. I used to just do FMLA for a huge company. Our rules were you used your sick and vacation time to get paid while on FMLA. They held 2 weeks of vacation for you. After that time was up and you still were on FMLA you would then apply for short term disability in order to continue getting pay. For us we have 100% short term disability pay and I know most companies are 60% pay. Please check with your HR department for what you company policy is. You can also be on FMLA and have it be unpaid. Feel free to FM me any questions.

maternity leave spinoff - FMLA help

Karin...I'm an HR rep...I can explain it all to you if you want.