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Medical evidence has shown that someone that has suffered with an illness for at least 90 days and has shown no or only a slight degree of recovery might have a condition that could persist for 2 to 3 years. If the same individual had a job, he or she might qualify for long term disability benefits.
Other conditions that must be met, in order for an employee to qualify for long term disability include:
• Worker has completed the elimination period.
• Employee has been working on a full-time basis, that means that he or she has been on-the-job for at least 30 hours per week.
• A qualified employee has elected to receive benefits, and has paid money into a disability plan.
In some workplaces the nature of the employee’s condition also determines whether or not that same worker can receive long term disability benefits. Some employers do not grant such benefits to those with a pre-existing condition.
Length of certain periods that are associated with long term disability benefits
Elimination period: Length of time that the recipient of the benefits must be paying for the promised coverage, before qualifying for enjoyment of such coverage. If an employer pays the premiums associated with a given plan, then the employer determines the length of the elimination period.
At a given workplace, an elimination period usually lasts for 3 to 6 months. With a private insurance, the elimination period might be longer or shorter.
Injury Lawyer in Barrie knows that a plan from a private company can become the source of supplementary income, after the affected individual qualifies for social security disability.
Benefit period: That is the period of time during which benefits get provided. The benefit period gets stated in the insurance policy. Benefit periods normally run for 2, 5 or 10 years. Sometimes an employer grants such a period for the length of time that remains until the disabled worker reaches the age or retirement.
How can a disabled worker deal with a long elimination period?
That worker could use credit cards for making payments, or could get a loan. If the employer has a short-term disability plan, that might get used during the elimination period. Finally, it is also possible for such a worker to plan ahead and establish an emergency fund.
How might an employer try to get rid of an employee that has been found to have a pre-existing condition?
The employer might assign such a worker a task that he or she lacks the education or experience to handle satisfactorily. Then that same employee can be fired, if he or she fails to perform well at the newly-assigned task. That frees the employer from the need to plan for offering disability benefits.