I have been on LTD for two years now with a spinal cord condition and am now at that transitions stage. So far I have been complying with the insurers request, but this isn’t about the LTD insurance. What I am looking for is information regarding a Leave of Absence for Medical Reasons. I had previously gone on to LTD without issue and I received my vacation pay as soon as that happened. This time I have a bank of 10 weeks sitting in the bank and I am told that I cannot access them unless I leave the company or go on Medical Leave of absence.Does going on a leave change anything in my case?
Interesting question.
I’m guessing you work for the government.
Was this bank of 10 weeks acrued when you were on LTD?
If yes, I would wonder if that money is owed to the insurance company.
Need a legal opinion. 
In fact, I am a Heavy Duty Mechanic working for a large mining equipment dealer, and we are unionised. (Government worker? Please. (chuckle)) Anyway, I can tell you that at least the majority of it was from when I was on the job but there may have been a portion earned while I was on LTD. This seems unlikely as our paystubs show vacation time increasing every paycheque as we earn it. I have done a couple of short modified duty periods with gaps between and my vacation changes accordingly.
Back to the original post, and to give context, when I had previously been on LTD for surgery I had been ‘automatically’ put onto Medical Leave of Absence as was company policy. At that time we were using GWL for LTD insurance but have switched to SunLife in the last few years. This time I noticed the vacation time had not been paid as before and called HR where I was told the new policy of me having to request a leave of absence to receive this money.
Ok, I can deal with that for now. But now I at that transitional stage and I just came off of work last week due to my condition. Spine problems. I’ve come to the realization that, no matter how much I want it, I’m not going back to my old job as mechanic and so am trying to predict the future in terms of being very careful on EVERYTHING i do. I do have some savings that will last me a few months but I may be looking at a stretch of time with no income. I also don’t know how this will affect (good or bad) any aspect of my claim. Any help on this is greatly appreciated.
As an addendum, should I be applying for CPPD while they are evaluating me for retraining?
I’m not unionized and I didn’t have any vacation when I went on LTD.
How do you know you have 10 weeks of vacation?
I can’t access any of the work systems.
Definitely don’t quit the company.
Who told you that?
HR?
You definitely need a legal opinion on going on “leave”.
Get a free consultation:
If you do get your vacation pay then doesn’t just reduce your LTD payment anyways? In my opinion, it is usually a better option for your employer to terminate the employment contract as you have more options. Also by taking a medical leave then you have requested a change to your employment contract and likely would have to give an estimated return date–which could cause issues with LTD.
I am not sure this is a can of issues that you want to open.
Not if it was accrued when he wasn’t on LTD.
I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t go there but if it is a lot of $ then get legal advice.
Do you continue to accrue vacation while you’re on LTD?
I’m not getting pay stubs from my employer anymore.
The payout of sick benefits would be dictated by your employers policies and the employment standards act of your province. Designations such as “sick leave” are an issue with your employer and you would need to follow their process to have that designation assigned to you. Any payouts from employers for medical or sick pay would normally be offset by the insurance company, such there is no net benefit to you for getting the medical or sick pay. it would likely be deducted dollar for dollar form your LTD payments. You would need to review your LTD plan confirm how it would handle this type of payment, but what I said above is generally true.
David Brannen
Disability Lawyer with Resolute Legal
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I think this is vacation pay that was earned when he was working so I don’t see how an insurance company would have any claim on it.
Why not just leave it and them ask the insurance company if/when you leave the company?
Maybe ask your union rep if they know if the insurance company would deduct it.