• Getting injured in an automobile accident may result in a short-term disability.Choque frontal image by quicolopez from Fotolia.com
  
  Short-term disability coverage provides benefits for employees for a specific period of time, if they are hurt and can't perform their regular job duties.
  
  Certain rules, regulations and laws come into effect when determining eligibility and, in some cases, to protect the employer from fraudulent cases where employees may be faking an injury or illness just to get the coverage.
  
  

Family and Medical Leave Act

• In 1992, the federal government passed the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which is designed to protect employees who need to take time off from work due to medical reasons.
  
  

Eligibility

• The FMLA law typically applies to employees who work within a company that has over 50 employees. The employee has to have worked for the same company for at least one year before he is eligible to receive benefits under this law.
  
  

Benefit Coverage Period

• The FMLA law provides protection for 12 weeks per year for short-term disability. The weeks do not have to be used consecutively, and can be taken throughout the year while performing job duties in between.
  
  

Annual Maximum

• The maximum amount of protection that a person can receive for short-term disability is calculated from the last 12 months he worked, not by calendar year. Once he has received his 12 weeks of coverage, he must wait another 12 months for it to become effective again.
  
  

Benefits

• The FMLA law does not require your employer to provide you with a percentage of your salary. The benefits are up to your company, depending on the level of coverage you selected upon employment. Instead, the law protects you while you are out on leave by making sure that you still receive health benefits and that, upon your return to work, you are given the same job you had before leaving, or one of equivalent nature, with the same pay.
  
  

State-Mandated Plans

• Only five states in the U.S. require employers to provide short-term disability benefits for all employees. These states are California, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Hawaii, and they must provide a minimum amount of coverage to all employees.
  
  The other states in America are not required to do so, but many large corporations, businesses and unions offer these plans as part of their employee benefits.