Parental leave offers wonderful benefits to people who are thinking of starting a family. How these programs work varies by district. Some districts structure their programs by allowing members to use a combination of days paid by the district and their sick days with an optional, additional unpaid period of leave. Other districts limit the number of accumulated sick days that can be used for parental leave. As more school districts across the state approve parental leave plans, both paid and unpaid, people may begin to wonder — do I still need short-term disability insurance?
Disability insurance is not a paid leave program, but its maternity benefits can dovetail nicely with parental leave. Whereas parental leave only accounts for the period of time after you have a child, disability insurance is a form of income protection designed to help you pay your bills if you’re unable to work due to illness or injury. Under this bigger umbrella, MTA’s Disability Plan can complement parental leave.
MTA’s Short-Term Disability Plan is distinct in that it can provide benefits on top of maternity leave. After giving birth, a mother can accumulate the funds from her disability plan at the beginning of her leave, which can be especially helpful in covering the expenses of an unpaid period away under her district’s parental leave program. In addition, if prior to giving birth a member develops a medical condition that requires bedrest, disability insurance could pay benefits and replace a portion of their income before a parental leave plan begins.
Disability insurance benefits families beyond the initial "new parent" stage
Beyond parental leave, there are many other circumstances that might keep MTA members out of work. Any number of things can cause someone to become disabled: a car accident, postpartum depression, or even falling on the ice and suffering a head injury. If you are concerned about losing income while you’re out of work on parental leave, you also need to consider how you’ll protect your income if you can’t work due to other causes.
The reality is that disability insurance has importance beyond maternity leave, and if you have children your paycheck becomes that much more essential to meeting your family’s needs. You need to protect the financial security of your growing family in the event that you cannot work for an extended period of time. How will you pay your bills if you are out of work beyond a paid parental leave period? Disability insurance can help not only for maternity leave but also for the other causes that could keep you out of work, providing you and your loved ones with greater peace of mind so you can focus on the things that matter.
To learn more about the MTA Disability Plan, visit www.mtabenefits.com/disability.
Editor: Carolyn Cassiani
The MTA Advantage is published three times a year as a supplement to MTA Today by MTA Benefits, Inc.
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