I am currently employed for over a year. Can someone explain to me how FMLA will work for me since I will be out on Maternity leave. As of now when I give birth to twins

I will have vacation (4weeks)
Short term disability for about 6 weeks
If I want to be out the entire 12 weeks of FMLA - will it be the balance left unpaid?
In addition, can LTD be supplemented to the time off if my physician states I need to be out longer than the 12 weeks for medical reasons.

Or what if I need to stay out longer than 12 weeks and its not for medical reasons - can I request an extended personal leave without pay and can my job be gauaranteed.

Your help is appreciated.:)

Here's a set of frequently asked questions: elaws - Family and Medical Leave Act Advisor (http://www.dol.gov/elaws/esa/fmla/faq.asp).

The FMLA only requires unpaid leave, so the time after vacation and short-term disability will be unpaid. I don't know exactly how LTD works, so will allow someone else to answer that. And, if you want to stay out longer than 12 weeks, you can always ask for an extended leave, but it's not covered by the FMLA, and can be denied and your job isn't guaranteed.

From the FAQ: Q: Are there other circumstances in which my employer can deny me FMLA leave or reinstatement to my job?

In addition to denying reinstatement in certain circumstances to "key" employees, employers are not required to continue FMLA benefits or reinstate employees who would have been laid off or otherwise had their employment terminated had they continued to work during the FMLA leave period as, for example, due to a general layoff.

Employees who give unequivocal notice that they do not intend to return to work lose their entitlement to FMLA leave.

Employees who are unable to return to work and have exhausted their 12 weeks of FMLA leave in the designated "12 month period" no longer have FMLA protections of leave or job restoration

Under certain circumstances, employers who advise employees experiencing a serious health condition that they will require a medical certificate of fitness for duty to return to work may deny reinstatement to an employee who fails to provide the certification, or may delay reinstatement until the certification is submitted.

It will be up to your company if they will allow vaction pay, many disability policies do not cover pregnancy, but some will, so you will have to review that. Also many policies state that you will only be paid if you can't do any work, not just your job.

So you need to see if they will pay for this or not.

FMLA only gives you the time off, not paid time, if your company will allow you to use these other plans instead or payment while on it, that is great, my past company offered to allow vacation time. But our disability plan would not pay for this.