38 weeks pregnant and not approved for short term disabilty?????????

[dzneprincess]

OK apparently, in the year 2003 just being 38 weeks pregnant at a VERY physically active job, being 38 weeks pregnant is not enough to be approved for short term disability!!!!!!!!!!! OH I'm soooooooooooooooooo mad!


I can not believe the phone call I just got. I have been out since Monday,thinking I was on Maternity leave. Well our STD "approving" company just called and said she doesn't have any information from my Dr showing that I can't work in any capacity, therefore she can't approve me to be paid for 2 weeks!!!!! GRRRRRRRRRRR Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!! I have tried calling my Dr's office, but of course, it's Friday and they are already gone.............Don't these people understand I am TIRED??????????????????????????????GRRR AND GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

 

[mickeyfan1]

In my company you are not on Maternity leave until the child is delivered, unless labor takes forever. (It is usually the same day)If one of my employees was to go out 2 weeks before their due date, without doctors information saying they are unable to work, they will either be taking their paid time off (vacation, personal time) or be at home on their own dime. The company doesn't make the decision, the benefit administrator does. THere are still a lot of people who think that pregnancy = disability, even if they have no complications. The process is supposed to be in place to keep the $ from being wasted.

Sorry that you are going through this stress in an already stressful time. Regarless of it being a holiday, there should be a Dr on call, but I would think they would only be on call for medical emergencies, not paperwork.

Hope you get it all worked out on Monday. And congratulations on the upcoming event.

 

[TIdoublegaER]

Well, I think I can offer you some partial good news. As long as your doctor will approve you being off before the delivery, the STD company will pay you retroactively. So hang in there and try to enjoy your weekend.

My SIL got a HUGE shock last week. She took STD for the birth of her 3rd baby and planned on taking 3 mo off. Well, she went to her doctor to get the STD extended and he told her "no, there has to be a MEDICAL reason for you to be off another six weeks". She figured because FMLA allowed for her to take 3 mo off that she would get STD that entire time. So she is taking the next 6 weeks off unpaid (not that she can afford to do that).

 

[nativetxn]

I hope you end up with your benefits. Perhaps your doctor can help you out on Monday.

Don't stress yourself, sweetie, everything is going to work out.

How exciting that it's almost time for the baby to be here. I love new babies they are pure joy.

Katholyn

 

[ducklite]

Sorry--I can't really sympathize.

I went two weeks past due, and continued to work 45-50 hours a week until I called out because I had a bad head cold two days before my son was born.

That's TIRED.

Plus even though my doctor put me out for eight weeks following my delivery, I was told by the company that they would only give me six, unless their doctor examined me and found me unfit to work for the last two (which I'm sure he wouldn't have).

So I was back to work six weeks after my delivery.

If you were in the military you would be expected to work up until your labor started, and be back two weeks post delivery.

Anne

 

[jel0511]

When I was pregnant, I needed a Dr's note to say when I wasn't able to work anymore to collect STD. If I hadn't gotten that note, I would have to work right up to delivery. Since you didn't turn in a note, I can understand them balking at paying you for the two weeks. Just relax and get the letter on Monday.

 

[dcgrumpy]

That sounds normal to me. STD usually starts the day you deliver. Unless of course you are having complications. With DS I took a couple of weeks off beforehand unpaind time. With this pregnancy, I was able to hold on to 3 1/2 weeks vacation to take before I have the baby. As far as afterwards, I can take a year off but only 6 weeks paid. FMLA only guarantees that you won't lose your job, it doesn't obligate your company to pay you.

 

[AirForceRocks]

This sounds right to me - pregnancy, absent complications, isn't considered a disability. Furthermore, being "tired" is not normally considered a disability either.

If you were in the military you would be expected to work up until your labor started, and be back two weeks post delivery.

The military (the Air Force at least) gives six weeks for maternity leave, not two.

 

[Princess Dot]

I know how you feel. I was working full time nights (12 hr shifts) in my 39th week, and boy was I tired! And that can be pretty disabling!!
My docs would not give me a note before delivery unless I developed some sort of complication such as increased BP, bleeding or premature contractions. But that does not mean that your docs will do the same. Just call on Monday and relax and enjoy the weekend.

 

[JOC]

If you were in the military you would be expected to work up until your labor started, and be back two weeks post delivery.

All branches of the military give you 42 days maternity leave. You can also request more time off using personal vacation days if you have them saved up and if your supervisor approves it. I went back to work after 60 days.

 

[AirForceRocks]

Thanks JOC for clarifying the issue for the other branches. I did the same as you - I took my six weeks convalescent leave, then 4 weeks of regular leave with each of my kids.

 

[dzneprincess]

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement all. A question for those of you that say pregnancy is not disability (which I also believe) and that I should not expect to be paid...I am a telephone technician in a central office. This is not a desk job, otherwise I would still be there. I make cross connections on telephone equipment, as high as 4 feet above my head, and all the way to the ground. This is not a "typing" connection that I make through a computer, this is a physical wire that I run from point A to point B to get dial tone to my technicians in the field, so my question to you all would be, what would you have me do? Continue to have me stepping on a ladder at 38 weeks pregnant, or crawling around on the floor? Some would say answer the phone. But who calls me? My technicians, if for some reason they do not have dialtone, or they need some assistance for whatever reason. SO again, what would you have me do? It looks like I will be heading back into work on Monday, as just can't throw money away. But there will be nothing for me to be able to do. I just think it is silly, that either way I would have gotten paid (were the benefits approved), but now I have to go and be in the way for 8 hours.

P.S. Once I do go into labor, the STD will be automatic, and I will get paid for 5 weeks if I have a reg birth, or 6 weeks for a C-section. I was also planning on taking an additional 5 weeks off (unpaid, or on my dime as one poster put it) to spend some time with my new born child.

 

[AirForceRocks]

Sorry, but I'm missing the point as to why you can't answer the phone and pass the work order on to someone else to actually do. Who is doing your job now? Why can't you sit at the phone, and when the calls come in, pass the info to your replacement?

It sounds like you do have a demanding job, but that doesn't mean that you are due STD just because of pregnancy.

 

[dzneprincess]

Ok, sorry, I left that important piece of info out, if I am there, there is NO replacement.

 

[AirForceRocks]

Well then, it sounds to me like you are screwed, unless you can convince your doctor that there is absolutely NO job that you can do for the last two weeks.

 

[dcgrumpy]

It still doesn't make you disabled. I don't know which phone company you work for, but are you in a union? Can't you tell your foreman you won't do anything too physical? Are you the only COT in the CO?

 

[CarolA]

Really your only hope is that your Doctor will write a letter stating you could not do your normal job (or any job if you had complications) and your company handles it from there. If you cannot do anything they will put you on Short Term
If you could do something and your company makes the decision they would have let you do it you may be out of luck!

I am not sure I understand how this happened though. Did you just assume that you were on disablity or did someone originally tell you that you were?

(and just out to satisfy me, how are phones getting connected for the 6 weeks you will be out if there is no replacement!)

 

[jel0511]

There is one thing that I want to note here. You're planning on taking 12 weeks after the birth, but it you take ANY time off before the baby is born, it counts towards your 12 weeks untitled under FMLA. So, if you really want these 2 weeks, paid or unpaid, you'll only be entitled to 10 weeks after delivery. Basically FMLA is cummulative and isn't for just after delivery, it's for both.

 

[dzneprincess]

CarolA,
There are 2 of us that work 40 hour work weeks, and even then we are barely able to get our work done in 80 hours a week. My co-worker was alone on Monday and was SWAMPED ( I know cause he called me LOL), then Tues they got him some help for the week til they figure out what they are going to do. So as of today, he has help. If I come back, that help goes back to his central office, because he is on loan to ours. He gets paid extra money to be away from his CO. Thus there would be no replacement. Also this is the 2nd time I have had a baby while employed with this company, it was not a problem last time though, because I had a desk job, and was able to stick it out until about 3 days before the baby was born. This is the 1st time I have had a physical job and been pregnant. I knew I would have to be aprroved for STD but I did not imagine it was going to be this much of a problem to get it approved. Mistake on my part, I admit.

jel0511, I am taking a total of 12 weeks of cumulative. 2 now and 10 after the baby is born, however if I wanted to I could take a care of a newborn child leave, unpaid, of course, for up to one year after the childs birth. I was able to do just that with my last child, because there were 60 other people doing my job. I knew it was ok. This time, there is just the 2 of us, and that much time is not an option.

dcgrumpy, we are unionized, but we don't have a foreman. We have a union president, and I have a call into him to get his advice.

 

[AmyA]

At least you get STD---here in TN when I had my last baby (2001), that wasn't an option. I had an fairly difficult pregnancy, and so I ended up using all my ill time and vacation time before DD was born, to avoid having to start accruing FMLA. That meant that the 12 weeks FMLA I took after her birth was all unpaid.

That being said, I do sympathize with you. It's hard to work at a physically demanding job (I was an NICU nurse doing 12s at night) when you are that pregnant. However, in general, normal pregnancy symptoms should not be considered disabling (IMHO)---unless your MD will agree that your symptoms are disabling. Using the "I'm tired because I'm pregnant" line sets the women's equality movement back about 30 years.