Hello all,
As you may know I have been off work since May (off and on). Well, I am now nearing my short term disability "cut off" period and will then have to go on long term disability *if* approved.
I really don't know what long term disability status means and my employer is quite large and the right hand does not seem to know what the left hand is doing. For example, my supervisor cannot answer basic questions and what will happen, what forms I have to fill out, etc. She usually has to phone five different departments to find out and even THEN, she will often change her answer days/weeks later. As anyone with anxiety knows, this is NOT easy to deal with. But so far, I have been just accepting things as I go (trying hard to, anyways).
However, the other day, a coworker contacted me and said that someone at work was saying that once I go on long term, my job will no longer be reserved for me. That threw me for a loop, as I had never heard this.
Then, today I received a letter in the mail from the long term disability company saying that I needed to prove that my condition wasn't pre-existing or I won't be approved (thus will no longer get disability payments-which need to live on and will lose my job). This is a pretty big grey area, since I had depression before (pre-exisiting), but was just diagnosed with anxiety. I'm SO anxious about this. All of my previous doubts about all of this being so vague are flooding in. I'm worrying about going broke and not having enough money to live on. My boyfriend says not to worry (he works), but I do the finances and I know better! I'm so tempted just to say "forget this" and quit this job and try to go work somewhere else. But then, they would probably want a reference from my last employer, so it probably wouldn't be a good idea. I'm just so frustrated. I really feel like I'm getting the run-around and I'm so tired of all this paperwork that does not seem helpful!