Buy an Aflac policy privately.

https://www.aflac.com/prospecting

You can buy this through any insurance agent or might be able to buy it direct online.

FIRREA agencies (the financial agencies that also operate on a different payscale than GS agencies) frequently offer STD and LTD policies for purchase to employees, but most agencies do not.

As OP points out, privately purchasing disability insurance generally requires a health check, whereas employer-provided policies frequently have an onboarding grace period where you can purchase insurance without an exam.

Also, there are two routes for donated leave--there is a leave bank, if one is already a member, as well as the Voluntary Leave Transfer Program, where agency members can donate leave directly to individuals who have applied to the program.

If your agency has a union, frequently the union is handling the communications or "begging" messages, as some people put it.

I would encourage the OP to reach out to HR, as allowing advanced leave is generally an agency decision. A supervisor can elect to not allow advanced leave for annual leave (for example, a new employee had made vacation plans before changing jobs), but I don't think they are the deciding vote for medical/FMLA issues. Also I would encourage them to reach out to HR around accommodations for their disabling event for when they try to go back to work. Unless OP has been a federal employee for less than a year and/or is already on probation, it is very difficult to separate an employee around performance issues resulting from a medical event. I know multiple people who barely worked for over a year before separation negotiations were concluded.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a new fed and I find the whole concept of leave bank to be borderline offensive. The govt is asking people for essentially monetary donations to colleagues and making colleagues beg each other for money instead of setting up a system that pays for emergency coverage. It’s so inappropriate.

And you have to donate annual leave (vacation time), not sick leave, even though it will be used by recipient as sick leave.

You don't HAVE to donate anything--but the idea that others have to beg for paid sick leave is so degrading.

What I mean is that if you want to donate, you cannot donate sick leave, which most people have a lot of. Annual leave has a cap on how much can be carried over and sick leave doesn’t. Annual leave has more monetary value because it’s paid out when you leave the government.

Right. This is why I think it’s awful that people are asked to donate their annual leave that has monetary value, which sick leave does not.

My SL is adding over $3000 to my pension, until I die and, if I die first, $1500 to my spouse until she dies. Not much but it definitely adds value.

$3k? I don’t see how that’s possible, particularly with survivor benefits. Are you under CSRS?

try 1.5 years of SL for capped out GS-15 at 62. it's over 3k

I thought everyone knew this about the federal government? Back in the day it took more than 3 years to have enough leave for maternity leave.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t like how this was handled in fedgov you’d absolutely hate how it would have been handled in private sector.

It really depends on how good of a worker you are and how important you are to a company. WHen my friend's husband had a major medical crisis and she was out indefinitely, her boss said take as longs you need, your job will be here when you get back. She was worth her weight in gold and he knew it.

Pretty rare and only reserved for exceptional employees with a personal relationship.

OP doesn’t sound like she’s an exceptional employee, just average. They would have her go on disability, and when she comes back she would underperform and be gone in 6 months.

What information do you have that OP is "just average"?

She works for the government and hasn’t saved a six month emergency fund. That is hardly a go-getter. No skin off my back, I value work life balance.

- another Fed

oh man, you are being harsh. you can't judge a book by its cover. you can't judge op based on few words here. who knows what her full story is.

We know enough to know that she’s a single mom of a special needs child, and now she’s a disabled single mom of a special needs child. She and her child are going to end up on welfare, it sounds like, even though she would have been willing and able to pay for STD and LTD insurance if her employer had offered it.

other posters have said that there is STD available for purchase as a Fed

This is OP. There is no STD available for purchase through my agency. It probably differs by agency. Or some people purchased privately, which would likely be unavailable to anyone with pre-existing conditions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a new fed and I find the whole concept of leave bank to be borderline offensive. The govt is asking people for essentially monetary donations to colleagues and making colleagues beg each other for money instead of setting up a system that pays for emergency coverage. It’s so inappropriate.

Govt is not asking, your collogues are asking. Govt's job is to facilitate and make it possible to donate. Your leaves are for emergency/non emergency uses. There are other products you can purchase to cover yourself. Most people (like OP) don't.

That's not the point. It's essentially a thinly disguised GoFundMe. How humiliating for people to have to ask, and I find it surprising to be asked for monetary donations at work.

If you are too humiliated, then don’t ask. Federal employees are very caring and we all understand and want to donate. If you just want free money, you’re out of luck. Op should have purchased STD. Many of us fought to have STD options available to us. When I started working and wanted to have a baby there wasn’t anything open to me. I didn’t have enough AL/SL as a new fed and we were prohibited from STD like aflac. I’m glad STD exists now.

Did you ever price out STD? We did. Pregnancy coverage was only offered if you had coverage for the previous 12 months. It still didn’t pay out on day 1 after delivery- you basically needed a c-section or complications to receive anything. And there were caps on coverage that meant you’d never get very much more than you paid in during those earlier 12 months.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes there is STD available to feds, but of course you had to buy into it before. It’s actually a great option that wasn’t available decades ago.

I’m sorry you’re in this situation but you can’t blame the employer. They’ve been as lenient as they can be.

Can you go back remote or part time?

A great option? It is incredibly expensive due to adverse selection. The only people that buy it are people that are pretty sure they're going to use it.

Short-term disability really should be part of the standard compensation package that is subsidized by employers. In the case of federal employees, I think the problem is that there are a lot of long-time employees with very large sick leave banks. They don't need short-term disability. But younger people do.

I agree, but many Gov branches (Fed, State, Local) are 50 years behind in their approach to providing appropriate benefits. Many school systems do not offer disability benefits either or the waiting period is a month long.

These orgs are still relying on sick leave to provide coverage for employees when they are ill. That may have been a good idea in the 1960s when many women quit work once they got married or became pregnant. Men died after their heart attack. And most people retired around 50 after working for 30 years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a new fed and I find the whole concept of leave bank to be borderline offensive. The govt is asking people for essentially monetary donations to colleagues and making colleagues beg each other for money instead of setting up a system that pays for emergency coverage. It’s so inappropriate.

And you have to donate annual leave (vacation time), not sick leave, even though it will be used by recipient as sick leave.

You don't HAVE to donate anything--but the idea that others have to beg for paid sick leave is so degrading.

What I mean is that if you want to donate, you cannot donate sick leave, which most people have a lot of. Annual leave has a cap on how much can be carried over and sick leave doesn’t. Annual leave has more monetary value because it’s paid out when you leave the government.

Right. This is why I think it’s awful that people are asked to donate their annual leave that has monetary value, which sick leave does not.

My SL is adding over $3000 to my pension, until I die and, if I die first, $1500 to my spouse until she dies. Not much but it definitely adds value.

$3k? I don’t see how that’s possible, particularly with survivor benefits. Are you under CSRS?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a new fed and I find the whole concept of leave bank to be borderline offensive. The govt is asking people for essentially monetary donations to colleagues and making colleagues beg each other for money instead of setting up a system that pays for emergency coverage. It’s so inappropriate.

I completely disagree and think it’s nice of the government actually. As a long term fed I have TONS of annual leave that i lose yearly, so does Dh. He lost 100 hours last year. We’d gladly donate to whomever needs it. I will say that I don’t donate to maternity leaves (not standard ones. Ones with major issues/nicu I donate to)

DP. I mean, it’s better than not allowing leave donations, but it’s still a bad system. It greatly benefits old employees and people that have medical emergencies later in the calendar year. Young people that run out of their leave in January are basically screwed.

A better system would cap sick leave accruals and replace with STD that the employer contributes to.

Anonymous wrote:Yes there is STD available to feds, but of course you had to buy into it before. It’s actually a great option that wasn’t available decades ago.

I’m sorry you’re in this situation but you can’t blame the employer. They’ve been as lenient as they can be.

Can you go back remote or part time?

A great option? It is incredibly expensive due to adverse selection. The only people that buy it are people that are pretty sure they're going to use it.

Short-term disability really should be part of the standard compensation package that is subsidized by employers. In the case of federal employees, I think the problem is that there are a lot of long-time employees with very large sick leave banks. They don't need short-term disability. But younger people do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t like how this was handled in fedgov you’d absolutely hate how it would have been handled in private sector.

It really depends on how good of a worker you are and how important you are to a company. WHen my friend's husband had a major medical crisis and she was out indefinitely, her boss said take as longs you need, your job will be here when you get back. She was worth her weight in gold and he knew it.

Pretty rare and only reserved for exceptional employees with a personal relationship.

OP doesn’t sound like she’s an exceptional employee, just average. They would have her go on disability, and when she comes back she would underperform and be gone in 6 months.

What information do you have that OP is "just average"?

She works for the government and hasn’t saved a six month emergency fund. That is hardly a go-getter. No skin off my back, I value work life balance.

- another Fed

oh man, you are being harsh. you can't judge a book by its cover. you can't judge op based on few words here. who knows what her full story is.

We know enough to know that she’s a single mom of a special needs child, and now she’s a disabled single mom of a special needs child. She and her child are going to end up on welfare, it sounds like, even though she would have been willing and able to pay for STD and LTD insurance if her employer had offered it.

other posters have said that there is STD available for purchase as a Fed

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a new fed and I find the whole concept of leave bank to be borderline offensive. The govt is asking people for essentially monetary donations to colleagues and making colleagues beg each other for money instead of setting up a system that pays for emergency coverage. It’s so inappropriate.

Govt is not asking, your collogues are asking. Govt's job is to facilitate and make it possible to donate. Your leaves are for emergency/non emergency uses. There are other products you can purchase to cover yourself. Most people (like OP) don't.

That's not the point. It's essentially a thinly disguised GoFundMe. How humiliating for people to have to ask, and I find it surprising to be asked for monetary donations at work.

Listen, you don’t have to donate if you don’t want to and you don’t have to ask if you want to. This is a voluntary program for feds to help other Feds in need. It’s not costing govt any extra money. I personally think it’s a wonderful program for Feds to help each other. Be careful going down the dark hole. It’s a long way down.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a new fed and I find the whole concept of leave bank to be borderline offensive. The govt is asking people for essentially monetary donations to colleagues and making colleagues beg each other for money instead of setting up a system that pays for emergency coverage. It’s so inappropriate.

Govt is not asking, your collogues are asking. Govt's job is to facilitate and make it possible to donate. Your leaves are for emergency/non emergency uses. There are other products you can purchase to cover yourself. Most people (like OP) don't.

That's not the point. It's essentially a thinly disguised GoFundMe. How humiliating for people to have to ask, and I find it surprising to be asked for monetary donations at work.

Try working for a non profit. Monetary donations are strongly encouraged (read, required). Also, the combined federal campaign.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t like how this was handled in fedgov you’d absolutely hate how it would have been handled in private sector.

It really depends on how good of a worker you are and how important you are to a company. WHen my friend's husband had a major medical crisis and she was out indefinitely, her boss said take as longs you need, your job will be here when you get back. She was worth her weight in gold and he knew it.

Pretty rare and only reserved for exceptional employees with a personal relationship.

OP doesn’t sound like she’s an exceptional employee, just average. They would have her go on disability, and when she comes back she would underperform and be gone in 6 months.

What information do you have that OP is "just average"?

She works for the government and hasn’t saved a six month emergency fund. That is hardly a go-getter. No skin off my back, I value work life balance.

- another Fed

oh man, you are being harsh. you can't judge a book by its cover. you can't judge op based on few words here. who knows what her full story is.

We know enough to know that she’s a single mom of a special needs child, and now she’s a disabled single mom of a special needs child. She and her child are going to end up on welfare, it sounds like, even though she would have been willing and able to pay for STD and LTD insurance if her employer had offered it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t like how this was handled in fedgov you’d absolutely hate how it would have been handled in private sector.

It really depends on how good of a worker you are and how important you are to a company. WHen my friend's husband had a major medical crisis and she was out indefinitely, her boss said take as longs you need, your job will be here when you get back. She was worth her weight in gold and he knew it.

Pretty rare and only reserved for exceptional employees with a personal relationship.

OP doesn’t sound like she’s an exceptional employee, just average. They would have her go on disability, and when she comes back she would underperform and be gone in 6 months.

What information do you have that OP is "just average"?

She works for the government and hasn’t saved a six month emergency fund. That is hardly a go-getter. No skin off my back, I value work life balance.

- another Fed

oh man, you are being harsh. you can't judge a book by its cover. you can't judge op based on few words here. who knows what her full story is.