I'm sorry. I feel like I post on this forum way too much. Feel free to tell me I've used up my quota of posts for the week or month, and you're tired of my whining.

SUMMARY OF THIS WAY-TOO-LONG POST: Since, once again, I'm about to get fired, should I try for another stint of short-term disabilty with FMLA leave and let it flow into long-term disability OR should I just let them fire me and draw unemployment?

Here's the long version of my babbling...

I've been reading through the threads about getting on disability.

I checked the short-term and long-term disability policies through my employer. Also, up to 12 weeks of FMLA is available per year, and I've only used 5.

Keep in mind, I've already used 38 calendar days of short-term disability (at the same time as FMLA leave) this year.

4 weeks after being back at work, I got the big write-up about all of the events at work that happened prior to my leave, plus a few new ones that took place since I've been back. Also got a deadline to turn myself around or I'm fired.

My employer's policy says:

Short-term disability (maximum of 90 calendar days) must be exhausted before applying for long-term disability.

Long-term disability coverage works with other disability benefits (including Social Security and State Disability funds) to replace up to 60% of the salary earned before of pre-disability coverage.

If a long-term disability claim is approved by the insurance carrier, the employee will receive a rate of 60% of regular pre-disability monthly earnings.

The monthly disability payments will be reduced by any amount received from workers' compensation, social security, state disability funds, or other retirement benefits.


As of this coming Monday, I've got 43 calendar days left before the day
I'm supposed to be fired.

What if I got ahold of my pdoc as soon as possible, showed my pdoc the write-up, and discussed the fact that I'm still unable to concentrate at work, plus I've now sunk into another depression, and ask if I could be put on short-term disability again?

38 days of short-term disability already taken
+ 43 days potential for more leave before D-day
= 81 days

Not quite the 90 needed before long-term disability can kick in.

But if I'm on short-term disability with FMLA leave to protect the job
(even though I'm on probation, because I'm still a regular, full-time employee), they can't fire me when D-day comes, right?

And if I hit the 90-day mark with short-term disability, I could apply for long-term disability to get 60% of my pay.

Would it be easier to let them fire me on D-day and get unemployment, which is 1/3 to 1/2 of my pay? I know the drill with unemployment. Been there. Done that.

I hate the thought of applying for SSI or SSDI, possibly going to court, etc.

Plus when I'm hypomanic and my creativity comes back, I can accomplish some great things. Just not the things that bring in a steady income. I don't want to tie myself down to never again being able to make more
than $____ per month.

I'm sure my therapist and pdoc would look at the long list of items on my write-up and say that they are all related to bipolar.

I'm making myself batty this weekend with all of this wondering and going back-and-forth.


Long-term disability payments from the employer's plan last a max of 2 years for MI. Unemployment lasts up to 2 years. Same amount of time either way.

Seems like it would be easier to get off of unemployment (let's say if I'm able to increase the customers that I freelance for and actually make a living with it) vs. getting off of disability.

Disability just sounds so final to me. Like admitting that I'll never be able to take care of myself again.

It's Sunday morning. I slept until noon and feel even more depressed than I did last night.