My sister in law is pregnant and wondering about short term disability or unemployment while she is on leave?

Question

She is single and going to raise the baby alone so she will definitely need assistance money wise while she is on leave. she is working now but I don't think she will be able to work any longer. Does anyone have any kind of info we can use.

her work does not offer maternity leave but they are willing to sign anything so she could have unemploymen.
the only thing is the unemployment office says they cannot help her!
what can we do????

there is no problem as far as her work letting her be on leave for as long as she needs it is just a matter of how she will support herself while she is on that leave.

And for those of you who have nothing GOOD or POSITIVE to say or anything even USEFUL as far as answering this question, why don't you keep your sh*t to yourself.

I KNOW WHAT MATERNITY LEAVE IS AND YES, SHE IS WORKING NOW! SHE IS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT TO DO WHEN SHE DOES TAKE LEAVE! IF YOU CAN'T READ THE QUESTION RIGHT DON'T ANSWER IT!

I am really sick of people out there who think they can judge people they don't even know! NOBODY is perfect and NOBODY is ANYONE'S judge, jury, and executioner!

I

Answer 1

OK - in response to your questions and some of the answers posted here:

1. Pregnancy is classified as a disability of sorts, so it should be covered. Actually, in addition to maternity leave, if, for some reason, your doctor advises you to get off from work earlier due to a difficulty in pregnancy or something that will threaten the life of mother and/or child(ren), that would qualify as a Pregnancy Disability. This would also include other types of conditions that may have arisen as complications or directly related to the pregnancy such as post partum depression. The State will pay you a percentage of your paycheck, offset by what you get paid by your company.

2. Maternity Leave is given by companies as a benefit to employees. It usually depends on your length of service with your employer to determine how many weeks you receive at full pay and how many at half pay (or whatever your company's policy dictates)

3. FMLA ( Family Medical Leave Act ) is the law that was recently implemented that assures employees that they can keep their employment when they can take up to a maximum of 12 weeks off in a 12-month period (with or without pay, depending on company benefits) to care for a sick immediate relative (spouse, children, parents, siblings and parents-in-law, or to care for a newborn or newly adopted child. The law says that this leave can be taken all at once or in segments, or can be taken for a variety of reasons. For example, if you take 4 weeks off on FMLA to care for your sick mother, you have 8 weeks left if you need to take time off to care for a newborn. The weeks of FMLA is taken in concurrently (at the same time as your company's maternity leave benefit).

4. Paid Family Leave is a State Employment benefit. This benefit is separate from state disability benefit, used in conjunction and sort of like a supplement to your FMLA benefits. Check your own home/work State for specifics.

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Each state has different laws. In California, where I live, most employees pay into state disability which covers leave for 8-10 weeks after a baby is born (and a few weeks before). A doctor or midwife certifies the temporary pregnancy "disability" and the paperwork is submitted to the state. There is an eight-day waiting period before the pay kicks in and it is a percentage of the last year's earnings. However, no taxes or other deductions such as social security are taken out so the check can end up being about the same as the pay.

Unfortunately, not all states have such a program. Unemployment is only applicable if a woman loses her job (is laid off, not for reasons relating to her job performance). When I was last pregnant, I was laid off during pregnancy, so got unemployment payments during the pregnancy but not related to it, then when I had my baby, I was on pregnancy disability, then when that ended, I was back on unemployment. But again, the unemployment insurance has nothing to do with pregnancy disability payments.

I'm sorry your sister-in-law is going through this without much support from her company. I suggest she do a web search on "pregnancy leave, disability pay (state name)" and see what comes up. She might also ask her doctor as they are usually very aware of the programs locally and state wide.

Answer 3

Most places have to allow by law 6 weeks of maternity leave. It is meant to be for health reasons, not social help reasons. Whether or not she has that benefit will depend on the nature of her job and the locale she works in.
Some employers/locales allow/mandate much longer - some up to a year or more.
If she plans on raising the baby alone her employer will likely not be interested in paying her for not working for 5-10 years (would you?).
She is going to need family support and it will be a rough ride. Any chance she might consider giving it up for adoption?

Answer 4

The only government-required benefit is unpaid leave under FMLA, and that only applies if the company has a certain amount of employees and she has worked a certain number of hours OR has been with the company for a period of time.

If her company does not offer maternity leave, then she may qualify for many government benefits such as AFDC and there is a program which pays for childcare (even if it's a family member doing the care).

Good luck.

Answer 5

She can not collect Unemployment unless she is fired. She should check with her human rsource office in the company she works for for Short Term Disability. Chances are if she doesn;t remember it then either her company doesn't have the benefit or she didn't sign up for it.

Companies nowadays are allowing maternity employees to work from home by giving them lap tops. She could check with her HR department for that as well.

Answer 6

Maternity leave isn't paid through her work, its paid through the state. Her work doesn't have to pay a thing for her...just fill out thepaperwork. Tell her to go to the local unemployment office to get the paperwork.

Answer 7

tell her to check with human resources department where she works. this is a plan that she will only get if she has the specific insurance coverage from her job and has paid her premiums. most will pay for 6 weeks, but plans vary. they will not pay 100% of her normal salary. if she cannot get any maternity or disability pay from work then she might qualify for short term public assistance. she should contact the department of health and human services or family and children's services in her county for details.

Answer 8

I believe she can take maternity leave, and if she needs more time, she may be able to take personal leave and/or vacation time. If they don't pay during this time, she may qualify for TANF and WIC. Both agencies are very helpful, and offered in every state. Tell her to ask her doctor about state and other assistance agencies available to her.

Answer 9

Her work should offer maternity leave. It generally lasts 6 weeks.

Answer 10

Maternity leave should be offered by your work place. You should get 6 weeks. To get paid for it, you should be able to take all your sick leave, your vacation, and be able to get short term disability.