pregnant... questions about medical leave... any HR pros?

Question

ok, I am due to have a baby in May. I have been having many problems with work since they found out I was pregnant. I have been paying a short tem disability premium since I started so therefore I will be paid for 6 weeks of my leave. The company does offer 12 weeks of leave though (FMLA). Well my original plan was to leave and not come back, but not make them aware of that until I found a new job. I can't tell them before I leave because I don't think that I will get my short term disability if they know that my last day will be the day I go into labor. Here's the real prob, if I tell them after I get all my short term disability pay and stuff then they could force me to reimburse them for the 90% of my medical insurance that they will be paying while I am gone. I am really in a predicament and need some advice from an HR professional or someone who knows about this stuff. I don't want to come back if I don't have to, but is my only choice really to come back then give the 2 weeks?

Answer 1

I'm not an HR guru but I have 8 years experience in health insurance and I did exactly what you're planning on doing! You absolutely DO need to come back to work just long enough to get on the payroll. Otherwise, yes, they can potentially back date your dismissal date and force you to pay Cobra premiums. It might be wise to go ahead, come back for 2 weeks and still search for another job and give your company a minimum of 2 weeks notice. Don't give notice until you've been there for a couple of days though to be sure you get on regular payroll. Besides, you'd be burning bridges to just quit without giving the 2 weeks notice anyways. As much as they might suck, you still need to remain in their good graces when you leave. I know exactly how you feel to, my managers became a bunch of jerks once I got pregnant. Do your STD and your FMLA, come back for a few days, give a 2 week notice and then give a nice wave when you head out the door. Congrats on the pregnancy!

Answer 2

I had the same problem. I work in New Jersey and knew that I didn't want to come back. You are right in not telling anyone that you don't plan on returning. I worked up until four weeks before my due date and then took the six weeks after I gave birth. My work only paid for six weeks total so I was only paid for the four weeks before and two weeks after. Because of FMLA, I had 12 weeks to decide if I wanted to come back or not. Ten weeks into this time, I handed in my two week's notice. At this point, I had not been paid for four months because of only six weeks being covered by my work. The state of New Jersey, however, paid 60% of my pay for the entire 12 weeks. My work accepted that resignation and my discharge date was effective at the end of the 12 week period. They did not ask for any reimbursement. I told them that I had every intention of coming back but due to child care issues, I had to resign. I am not an HR specialist but I had the same concerns that you have and it worked out perfectly for me. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Well this is what I do at my job and yes they can go after you if you don't go back, but if you do go back for 1 week then quit threes nothing they can do about it. or just go back and do very poorly and have them fire you then you can collect unemployment while you look for a new job.