@HMom16 , I am very sorry about your daughter’s employer. I’m impressed with her honesty, hard work, proactiveness, and self-advocacy. I hope all works out for the best.
Most understand health benefits, so a terminated employee will typically get an appropriate COBRA notice. But other employee benefits are less understood. Here are some suggestions, which are based on assumptions that your D was working in a job the provides a full range of benefits:
Your D should call HR today and ask for copies of: (1) her current year benefits enrollment information; (2) any short-term disability policy or plan; (3) any long-term disability policy or plan; and, (4) any life insurance policy or plan.
She should ask how apply for STD benefits. If the HR person says she is ineligible, rather than helping her apply, ignore the HR person and apply according to the instructions in the STD policy or plan. Your D’s application would be based on the assumption she was disabled (according to the employer) before she was terminated. STD benefits are generally tied to the very specific job your D was performing, so if the employer required her to work 70 hours a week, and she was not able to do that, she may qualify.
A typical LTD insurance policy will define disability based upon “own occupation” for 24 months and “any occupation” thereafter. An LTD insurance carrier is less likely to recognize a specific employer’s 70-hour per week requirement, if that is the only requirement that can’t be met. But who knows. Some LTD policies require premiums to continue during the waiting period (when STD is typically paid). Find out this answer, so your D can pay the LTD premium if necessary.
Portability/Conversion. Unlike COBRA, people (including HR) rarely understand the Portability/Conversion rights in employer provided Life and LTD insurance policies. But, these are extremely important for individuals with mental illness who might otherwise not be insurable. A person with life (and often LTD) insurance through work may have 30 days after an employment termination to pay to continue the same insurance or to convert it to an individual insurance policy with the same carrier. Because of the group insurance coverage that was in place as an employee benefit, the individual may avoid pre-existing condition limitations and medical underwriting (that would result in rejection or outrageously high premiums). I believe (but am not certain) that the cost of ported/converted coverage is typically based on age alone.
Employer provided life policies often convert only to whole life type policies, which may seem expensive compared to term life policies. Since a person with a serious mental illness might not be able to get that term life insurance coverage, it may not be expensive for our children.
MI Limitations – STD almost never offers different (reduced) benefits for mental illness. A typical LTD policy will have a 24 month limitation for certain types of mental illness, while benefits for physical disabilities may continue to age 65 or later. The definitions of mental illness in this type of limitation can be difficult to apply/understand, as some conditions (like bi-polar and schizophrenia) may be treated as a physical brain condition not subject to the limitation (without policy language making this clear).
Pre-existing conditions – STD almost never has a pre-existing condition limitation, but most LTD benefits do. A typical LTD policy will require 12 months of coverage/employment before the onset of disability to eliminate the pre-ex limitation. It might make sense to pay for a ported/converted LTD policy (on which the 12 months will have already run) until the pre-ex period has expired at your S/D’s next job. If your S/D happened to get coverage under an LTD policy without a 24 month MI limitation, it may make sense to continue paying for that coverage forever.
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What kind of job is it that someone cannot have 8-9 hours sleep a night?! In what world does a perfectly normal human function require an accommodation?!
(front line medical and emergency workers, law enforcement etc, shift workers… are different. But if you needed a regular schedule, esp for health, you would avoid those professions, right?)
We should ALL be aiming for 7-9 hours a night, every night (per all the world’s sleep scientists).
@kaiserS, Thank you for that explanation of various benefits.
@KaiserS She was with the company less than 3 months. I’ll share your post with her regarding benefits, thank you! They told her health insurance ends at the end of the month and they did not mention Cobra. I think I can add her to my policy because she’s living with me and is under 26 but I will need to research that. I’m not sure about any of the other benefits.
She has retained an attorney and he agrees that she has a strong case. They did not follow the law regarding accommodations (in many ways.) She will probably need to go through him in terms of dealing with HR.
I agree, it is ridiculous that an employee isn’t entitled to 8 hours of time away from work, for sleep and everything else.
Thanks to everyone for your support.
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This is a matter of violating the Americans with Disability Act. Regardless of what disability insurance she may have or qualify for, she has a qualifying diagnosis under the ADA.
Did she tell the employer beforehand about the bipolar diagnosis and her need for sleep? Was it documented by an MD?
Good luck to her!
@compmom She wasn’t asked whether she had disabilities prior to joining the firm. Even after she requested accommodations, the firm specifically said they didn’t want to know her health condition. She knew the hours were long but did not expect to be unable to get 8 hrs of sleep because she was on the job 24/7. In addition to bipolar, she has a history of concussions and post-concussive syndrome. Everything is documented. Per her attorney, they violated ADA in several ways, which is grounds for the lawsuit.
The attorney said that when someone asks for accommodations, the company is supposed to ask what the issue is and then the employee and company negotiate as to what specifically the accommodations will involve. In this case, the company unilaterally came up with an accommodation and then justified the firing because that accommodation wouldn’t allow her to complete her job responsibilities. She never actually agreed to the accommodation and, in fact, specifically requested that it not be instituted if it would affect her career.
The company screwed up.
Wow. The company doesn’t get it. Relevant info for a lot of us. Thank you. I hope it resolves.
@KaiserS, I finally heard back and you CAN contribute to both types of 529 accounts in the same year. And funds can be used for housing/food.
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@MaineLonghorn - I apologize for taking so long to say thank you for the information. It is very helpful.
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I’m glad you are planning ahead. I will send you a message.
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I want to thank @MaineLonghorn for her and her family’s willingness to tell a bit of their story and answer questions. And thank you to so many others on this thread who have shared your experiences and advice.
One question I have is when did people start getting a sense that their child’s mental illness (whatever the severity) was going to be a factor in college searches? And what other factors, besides distance (which it appears a number of people viewed as important) were considered? Which factors weren’t considered but you wish had been? This could be anything from size of the university, size of classes, residential vs. commuter, significance of Greek life, etc.
Is this thread still open for questions? Thanks
Sure! I’m still around.
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