Short Term Disability for Maternity Leave

I'd be shocked if your employer thought Short Term Disability automatically meant you were trying for kids (and I think it'd be highly illegal if they ever said anything). I personally have Aflac, yes one day for kids, but after my mom had issues and was out on Short term for 6 weeks, i realized the benefit of it. Depending on your financial situation disability insurance is a good thing to have no matter what.

Eta:spelling

Cant suggest a specific brand or policy, but if your employer doesn't offer it, then they should not have problems or questions about you enrolling in it, even if it has to come through them...there are many reasons aside from TTC that someone would want to be covered with a short term disability plan. If they ask, just say you're more comfortable having the additional coverage. its none of their business. Just out of curiosity, what have others at your company done for maternity leave?

I'm surprised your company doesn't have it as well. If they don't have Aflac, they probably won't want to get it - it's honestly a pain to set up for your benefits/HR person. I believe Metlife offers STD plans that can be paid outside of your employer. Also, I'm not sure which state you live in, but New York (starting in 2018) and California offer some paid time off through the state.

This is tricky because you would not be better off going on FH ins. While STDI is important LTDI is even more important to have. The thing with a lot of STDI companies it does not kick in right away. If you had a complicated pregnancy you might end up needing a long term benefit. Just something to think about.

Ugh, I cannot imagine not having a proper maternity leave. The US really does need to catch up to every other first world country.

I cannot recommend any companies, but I can tell you that AFLAC is not only run through your employer. That is something that you can purchase outright, which I and a few people I know have done.

I don't think Aflac is run through your employer. My friend, who is a cosmetologist, uses Aflac for her maternity leaves, and its not run through her employer at all, its a completely separate policy she and her husband purchased.

I am a teacher in Maryland and we do not have paid maternity leave. We have to use our sick time - we get 10 sick days each year, and they roll over if we don't use them. I rarely take time off of work and I have been working in my district since 2010, so I have over 8 weeks saved up that I could use. DH and I are TTC right now because we want to time a pregnancy so that I would give birth in the spring, and be able to back my "maternity leave" to summer break to maximize my time home. I also joined something we have called the sick leave bank, which is where you donate 2 sick days to the bank and then you can tap into the bank if you need to in an emergency (like if the baby came early or there were complications with the pregnancy). Worst case scenario, we can take unpaid leave. That's what my friend who is also a teacher had to do - she had only been working for 3 years and unexpectedly got pregnant, and only had about 2 weeks of sick time.

I'm also starting to think about this (for the future, not planning to TTC for at least a year), and I don't have any input on short-term disability policies, but just wanted to chime in and suggest that you also check your state's law on maternity policies for your planning. In addition to what PP mentioned about certain states having paid maternity leave, they may also apply state level policies to smaller employers. For example, although MA does not require paid maternity leave, all employers that have more than 6 employees are required to provide 8 weeks unpaid maternity leave, while FMLA doesn't kick in unless you work for a company that has over 50 employees.

I spoke with an Aflac rep yesterday, and they told me it had to go through my employer, and we would need at least 2 employees enrolled for them to offer it. We wouldn't even have 2 employees at my work to enroll. I work for a small law firm, and aside from the attorneys who are not technically payroll employees, there's only 2 of us. I'm the only woman, and our other employee is a young college student so he would not be able to afford the cost.

I wish our country would get with the times

Another big thing with FMLA is that it doesn't apply if you've worked for your employer less than 1 year, and 1250 hours I believe.

We were talking of TTC in 6-9 months, but I'll be looking for a new job in 3-6 months soooo...

I don't have any recommendations for you, but I do know you'll probably only get STD pay for 4-6 weeks, and depending on your policy it's only a percentage of your pay. Unless you have a very complicated delivery or pregnancy I don't know if it's worth it to purchase this kind of insurance policy for only a month or month and a half of partial pay.

If your company doesn't offer STD insurance, do they even offer maternity leave? If it's that small of a company they may not be required to by law. Technically I don't qualify for FMLA because there are less than 50 people working at my location, but my company also offers their own leave program so I still get to take 12 weeks.

Wow, great discussion. I didn't even know about short term disability insurance being an option for maternity leave. H and I were talking about when to TTC last night and trying to figure up how I would bank sick leave and/or save for unpaid leave.

There's so many factors to the employer side of it. FMLA only applies when there are 50+ employees. But in some states, there are maternity leave laws that apply to companies with 5+ employees. And a lot of the time, employers will work with you to a certain extent.

Look into your state laws for the time off, but also be open to talking to your company about personal leaves or what they may approve.

For instance, I'm in CA - my company doesn't qualify for FMLA, but does have to meet the CA maternity regulations, so I'm entitled to up to 4 months off unpaid (depending on the pregnancy) where my job is protected. Additionally, we get 6 weeks of paid family leave through the state. However, I also worked in GA and there, if I worked for the same size company, I'm not guaranteed anything by law.

I work in HR and every company I've worked at has policies for personal leaves, even when either the company or the individual doesn't qualify for FMLA or some sort of protected leave.

I work for a small company that does not have a policy for maternity leave. Everyone here is either young and single or older with grown kids and the owner does everything on a case by case basis anyway. I have no idea how this works so I won't be of any help, but thank you for bringing this up because I didn't know purchasing insurance separately was even an option.

I used Aflac!! No complaints

I'm in Michigan. FMLA isn't available as we have less than 50 employees (plus that doesn't provide any financial assistance, only protects your position while you are off). Our state does not have any type of assistance for wage loss during maternity leave. I will likely have a week or two paid for vacation/sick through my employer, but that is it. They really wouldn't be able to afford it, so I can't blame them - they would have to hire a temp while I'm off.

STD isn't typically available for you through your spouse's employer, right? I know he has it, but i'm assuming they don't cover a spouse?

Typically employers pay for STD for their employees only and that wouldn't cover you. I have seen some employers offer "buy-up" plans, but generally it's still employee only.

I would definitely look at your STD options and keep in mind that you have to apply for and be approved for those benefits pre-conception. I know Metlife has a good plan, but a quick google search shows several reputable companies.

Just another idea - we had one person take maternity leave at my company and we worked with her where she was off for a month and then worked part-time and remote, slowly ramping back up to full-time and then back into the office. It might be worth talking to your employer about options.

C&N - your suggestion on working from home part-time is definitely something I am considering (when that time comes). And honestly, that really depends on how well my employer works with me. If they throw me a bone, I'll throw them one too. For example: if they give me a couple weeks paid time off, then i'll start transitioning back earlier than planned on a part-time basis from home. I can do some of my job from home, and they would certainly rather have me working than a temp. These are definitely things I can probably negotiate when the time comes. I still want to be prepared in case that doesn't work out though, and get the STD going now. Wedding is in 9 weeks