Step 1: Find out if any of these options are available to you. Step 2: Figure out how they work together.
Case Study #1
Jane has 3 weeks of vacation, 3 weeks of sick time, her employer is covered by the FMLA, and her employer offers a short-term disability insurance policy that lasts up to 12 months. Jane thinks that she will need to be out of work for 12 weeks.
As shown here, Jane can use all of her benefits together, concurrently. In fact, her employer can require her to substitute the unpaid leave under the FMLA, with any paid leave that she has (e.g., her sick time hours). But, if her employer doesn’t require her to do that, and she still wants to, her employer must allow her to:
- Take 12 weeks off under the FMLA, which protects her job and maintains her health insurance;
- For the first 3 weeks that she is off, she is paid by her vacation days;
- For the next 3 weeks that she is off, she is paid by her sick time; and
- For the final 6 weeks, she is paid a portion of her salary by her short-term disability policy
Using these benefits together allows Jane to maintain her income, while also protecting her job and access to health insurance coverage. If Jane prefers to string out her sick time, vacation time, then use her FMLA and short-term disability benefits, she may be able to do that, but only if her employer allows her to. However, Jane should know that just taking sick time or vacation time, or receiving short-term disability benefits does not protect her job. In this situation, the FMLA is providing the job protection.