I have a necessary surgery that needs me to be on 6 to 8 weeks short term disability leave. Would that put me at risk for layoff after I return from medical leave?
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Keep this in mind: if you are laid off and are in one of the states that allows Elevance to pay "supplemental unemployment"- which means that you have to fike for unemployment and Elevance will only pay you the difference between what you should have earned as severence pay and what state unemployment will pay you. In my state, you have to be "available to work" for any week that you collect unemployment, and Elevance won't pay you for any week you don't get unemployment for. When I was laid off in 2024 I had been planning to have surgery but because I was dependent on the weekly paycheck, I had to wait until I found a new job (in my case,at Elevance) to schedule the surgery, and then I had to be employed continously at Elevance another 6 months before I could take disability leave. So my surgery was delayed a total of 9 months, and by then the problem was a lot worse and the surgery didn't fully repair the problem. So to be safe, you should probably take the disability leave while you can.
What is the issue with people who would put this place before their health and well being. While I understand the concern about being RIF'd, you need to realize that you can do "everything right", be the model employee and still have it happen.
No way would I put my health to the side for this place. They WILL NOT miss you when you are gone - it has been shown time and time again. I just don't get it.
So, I was faced with your same situation. I opted for a less invasive surgery with a quicker recovery time, with the risk of needing the more invasive surgery at a later date. All in the hopes of not drawing attention to myself, and staying under the radar. So I pushed myself can came back 2 weeks post surgery, just with the accommodation of WAH for another 4 weeks until my lifting restrictions were over. I had incision complications, but i went back to work, pushing myself to be a "team Player". By the end of the year they RIF'd me. I don't know if my first ever short term leave of 2 weeks played apart or not, but knowing now, what I do know... I would have gone with the surgery that my Doctor recommended verses the quicker recovery surgery in the aims of saving my job. One the other hand I know people who have had multiple short term disability episodes and have never been RIF'd. I found another job, and I still work here.
They don't care, get it scheduled while you're still employed.
I cannot believe anyone would think twice about this situation. You're nothing to them, none of us are, and your mgr., staff VP, NONE of them, would care if you passed on the table.
Sounds callous, yes, but don't think for a second I'm not spot on.
They're gonna do what they wanna do, regardless.
So make sure that you especially do what you NEED to do.
You have the health coverage now to get this necessary surgery done, so definitely do it.
Get approved for your disability, and be in a calm and positive mindset when going through the surgery and recovery time.
Workers are always at risk for layoff, and often there's no logic or particular reasoning behind who they choose to let go, the company is just laser focused on the $. It's also completely out of your hands, regarding when they lay people off and why, so just let it go, and take care of what you need to do for yourself.