Hey there, so here’s the deal – I recently realized that during my STD period, my company used up my precious PTO which resulted in me losing out on that sweet 80% STD pay for those weeks. I mean, what gives, right? 🤔
I’m not trying to dwell on the past, but this happened a couple of years ago and I’ve since moved on to a new company. However, I still can’t shake this nagging feeling of confusion. I attended all those HR presentations on Maternity Leaves, went through all the paperwork and pay documents, but I’m left scratching my head.
According to my calculations, my STD claim was approved for 6 weeks, with the first week being unpaid. They then swooped in and used my PTO days to give me full pay for that week. But instead of getting the 80% pay for the remaining 5 weeks, they decided to gobble up my remaining PTO. Only after my PTO was dusted did I receive 3 weeks of STD pay at 80% with no more PTO left.
Now, here’s where it gets tricky – the PTO that was used to replace the 2 weeks of STD that would have been paid at 80% was treated as full days taken, not just 20% each day to make up the 100%. Was this normal procedure, or did they mess up somewhere along the line? Shouldn’t I have had a say in how my PTO was being used, maybe to save it for when my STD claim ended or even to extend my leave beyond the 16 weeks mark? 🤷🏽♀️
I can’t help but wonder if I would have ended up with more money if I had received those 5 weeks at 80% pay first and then used my PTO for the remaining unpaid leave. Am I missing something here, or is my math off? Any insights or experiences you can share would be greatly appreciated! Let’s unravel this maternity leave mystery together. 💡
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I think Im understanding what youre asking. Most companys require the exhaustion of *all* pto and any sick pay prior to any type of loa pay hitting. They would not simply use your pto to fill the gap between std and your normal wage.
Was this STD a company paid benefit or an insurance company paid benefit?
Generally speaking, STD is only going to pay for the time you’re actually disabled (typically 6 to 8 weeks after birth depending on how you deliver and assuming no complications). PTO will generally top up the STD amount.
After STD no longer applies, your employer will generally burn all your PTO until it’s exhausted. It’s less common your employer will preserve your PTO or give you a choice in if you use it or not.
It’s really not clear from your post what exactly happened but:
1) your employer can burn your PTO to supplement or replace STD pay
2) your employer doesn’t have to give you a choice
3) your employer doesn’t have to allow you to use your PTO to extend your mat leave
4) extending your leave beyond FMLA protection is hazardous because your leave becomes unprotected. Meaning you don’t have to be restored to your job or pay, you can be penalized for taking those extra weeks, or even let go for taking the extra time.
When I went on maternity leave (granted it was nearly a decade ago), I was required to use all my PTO first before receiving STD.
It is extremely common and legal for employers to have policies that an employee must exhaust their PTO first or have PTO run concurrent with any LOA.
This is a weird policy and not how I’ve ever seen it done. Perhaps the HR person didn’t understand the policy and applied it incorrectly? Perhaps they just have a bad policy.
I’m HR for a small company. Our employees use their PTO for the waiting period. Once STD kicks in, they use STD. We don’t require the employees to exhaust their time first. If the insurance co will not extend the STD but employee needs more time, they can use their PTO.
i’m not used to this “use it all” policy being attached to std or workers comp.
I’m not sure if STD is similar to FMLA, but when I took that, I was also required to use any and all PTO first.
I’ve never seen this and it makes no sense that they would force you to use PTO before STD. Use PTO before taking unpaid leave? Sure. But it’s not supposed to negatively impact your STD benefits. In this case the employee should have been at least given the chance to use it to top off their STD with PTO.
Check your company’s leave policy. It should state whether they require you to use your PTO while on leave.
My kids range in age 10-22, but pretty sure all of them had a 2- or 4-week waiting period, during which I was required to use my PTO. All were vaginal deliveries so it was expected that 6 weeks postpartum I was no longer short-term disabled. Post 6 weeks I took unpaid FMLA
It sucks. I definitely didn’t love starting work again with zero PTO…. but nobody asked me for my opinion on policy. 🙄😩
Congratulations on your baby!