5 weeks less short term disability due to misinformation/no advisement
First of all I want to say I take ownsership of not knowing how my short term disability (STD) works having never done it before and because my son was born one month early. Having said that I disclosed to our acting HR that I had no idea how they work. He helped me fill out my claim, including information that I was taking 5 weeks vacation. I figured I would take vacation pay until my benefits kicked in, which I would get 8 weeks of, covering me for my 3 month maternity leave. 5 weeks later my claim was processed but I saw that they only granted me 3 weeks vacation vs. 8. When I asked my HR manager why this was, he said that the disability kicked in 7 days after having the baby and that because I "chose" to take vacation first, I can't "double dip". I replied and asked who in their right mind would purposely make a decision that would impact their STD - I thought the benefits kicked in once the claim was approved, not from when I had the baby. I received no reply from him. I return to work in a couple of weeks and I would like to meet with him to discuss what happened. I feel that it was his job to advise me on this matter and believe he should take his share of ownership at a minimum. I am also thinking about asking for 1/2 my vacation back - I am out 5 weeks vacation and 5 weeks of income because he watched me make a stupid decision... am I being unreasonable?