How do I know whether I should take FMLA or short-term disability?
May 25, 2012 3:47 PM   Subscribe

I broke my tailbone, and have questions about FMLA, short-term disability, choosing the right doctor to help me file for either, and how they affect my chances at future employment. I have Carefirst Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance through my employer. You are not my lawyer or doctor, and any response to the questions and statements posed herein will constitute neither legal nor medical advice.

This past Monday, I slipped in the rain coming out of subway, landing hard on my tailbone, on the cement sidewalk in DC. Two days later, still in agonizing pain, I called in sick to work and went to urgent care. Urgent care Dr. thinks there's a fracture, but is waiting for confirmation from a radiologist. Fracture or no fracture, I cannot bend over, sit down, or stand up without excruciating pain. I'm part of a law firm support staff, and since my job requires frequent lifting, bending, and getting up from a seated position, I'm estimating that I will need at least two weeks to recover.
Now, for my questions:
  • My employer says I have two options - FMLA (if my doctor says I need 2 weeks or less to recover) or short-term disability (if I need more than two weeks).
  • Prior to this incident, I was relatively healthy. I saw my ob/gyn once last year for a pap smear (a very abrupt visit), and have never seen the primary care physician listed on my insurance card. Basically, I do not have a substantial history with any physician - so, who should I go to to help me make the right decision? The primary care whom I've never seen, the ob/gyn who would not recognize me on the street, or a specialist in orthopaedic surgery who could probably make the most qualified analysis?
  • Hypothetically, how does applying for FMLA or short-term disability affect my chances at finding a new job? Will having either on my record place a red flag on my job application?

  • Please feel free to email me privately: broken_tailboneATsentDOTcom.
  • posted by anonymous to Law & Government (7 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
     
    a specialist in orthopaedic surgery who could probably make the most qualified analysis

    Ding ding ding. Your PCP will almost certainly refer you to one anyway. Check with your insurance to see if you need a referral from him or her. Most likely the ortho's office will call the insurance for you, or they'll know offhand once you tell them what kind of insurance it is.

    I have no idea why you'd go to an ob/gyn for this. Cross that off your list.

    My sympathies!
    posted by desjardins at 3:51 PM on May 25, 2012 [1 favorite]


    Go to the orthopedic surgeon - if your local doctors are anything like ours, I can guarantee you the ortho will do a MUCH better job filling out the FMLA forms, and the odds of having to do a request for clarification are MUCH lower. And you will totally get sent to the ortho by your PCP. But definitely check for the recommendation requirement.

    FMLA and short-term disability are still you being employed, and should be reflected as such on your resume. Your future employers need to know exactly one thing about your medical status: can you perform the essential duties of the job you are applying for, with or without reasonable accommodation? The answer to this consists of either "yes" or "no" without further elaboration, and you don't answer it until and unless you are asked.

    (You work for a law firm, and they know HIPAA better than the average small-to-medium size employer, but it may be worth it to monitor what, exactly, they report to people as your dates of service. Also, DO NOT speak of new jobs to ANYONE while you're on FMLA leave or STD - you only have FMLA protection as long as you intend to come back to your job.)
    posted by SMPA at 3:57 PM on May 25, 2012


    How would a future employer know that you were on FMLA or STD? You don't have to put it on your resume, and unless you are applying within the same company, there's not a permanent record that follows you around.
    posted by donajo at 5:00 PM on May 25, 2012 [1 favorite]


    Hello there, I think you need to follow-up with your HR person or speak to someone else in the department. FMLA entitles you to 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Essentially it is job protection. STD and FMLA can run concurrently. So you can receive STD benefits while that FMLA clock is running. I don't know why your HR rep. is making it sound like you can only choose one or the other.

    Nthing that an orthopedic surgeon is your best bet here.

    Also, there is no way for your future employers to know you were on STD or FMLA. Not to mention the fact that using that information to make a hiring decision is highly illegal. (Same thing applies if you were applying for another position at this company.)
    posted by joeyjoejoejr at 6:17 PM on May 25, 2012 [2 favorites]


    Orthopedist.
    posted by radioamy at 6:20 PM on May 25, 2012


    Your employer is wrong, FMLA and STD are not the same thing so it's not either/or. FMLA is protected leave, STD is an insurance policy that provides salary replacement. You should request FMLA leave (which can go up to 12 weeks) and then determine what your options are for STD.

    Shouldn't effect your future job prospects in any way.
    posted by ghharr at 6:21 PM on May 25, 2012 [2 favorites]


    Following gharr, FMLA is protected leave available by federal law to companies with more than 50 employees. Since it's already been mentioned to you, it sounds like there are more than 50 employees.

    STD is an insurance policy that many firms buy, but just like any other insurance policy, the terms vary widely. For example, it's common for a company to require you to burn through a certain number of your paid sick/vacation days before you're eligible for STD--which exists solely to pay your salary while you're unable to work. Other terms are things like you get x weeks of 100% salary and after that it drops to 60%.

    Only your HR department can tell you how STD works (the exact terms) at your company. But federal law governs FMLA insofar as a doctor signing the forms required by your HR department is enough to invoke leave and you will still have a job to come back to.

    FMLA is unpaid leave. That's why--unless you're independently wealthy--you'd be interested in having STD. It's how you continue to receive salary until you return from FMLA.
    posted by ImproviseOrDie at 4:06 AM on May 26, 2012


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