Short-term disability in Ontario

Hi, I'm disability lawyer David Brannon. In this video, I'm going to talk about short-term disability benefits in Ontario. We'll consider some of the benefits that you can get in Ontario and you'll have a better understanding of what you may qualify for and how much you can get. If you like this video, hit the like button, don't forget to subscribe, and leave us your comments if you have clarifications. So if you live in Ontario and you have to be off work on a sick leave, you may be wondering what short-term disability benefits are out there and how does this whole thing work. In this video, I'm just giving you an overview so we won't go into super detail, but I want you to understand what options you may have. So first of all, short-term disability is when you need to be off work for a short period of time, usually a matter of weeks, because of an illness, accident, hospitalization, or something like that. When you're off for these periods of time, there are benefits that you can qualify for. Now in Ontario, the main type of benefit you can get for short-term disability is usually going to come from your workplace. Workplaces have these group benefits plans that include medical benefits and dental and other things. Some of those plans include coverage for short-term disability benefits. And so you'd want to check to see if your plan at work, if you have one, includes a short-term disability plan. If it does have that type of plan, you can qualify for benefits by filing an application with the insurance company that administers that plan. Short-term disability benefits in that situation would cover you anywhere from 15 weeks to 52 weeks, up to a year, and would pay a percentage of your income anywhere from 50% up to 100%. And so those benefits, if you get approved for them, will cover you for that period of time. The benefits can start right away under that type of plan, and you should expect that you would need to put in information and medical information from your doctor, and it will not necessarily be approved right away. There may be some weeks where they're reviewing it and making a decision. But if you eventually do get approved, they will make a back pay that can go right back to the last day where you did not receive any pay for work. Now, short-term disability, that is the main way that people will get these types of benefits. There are other ways in Ontario to get payments if you don't qualify for short-term disability benefits through your work. The main one would be EI sickness, which is a federal government program, but it's available to everyone in Ontario who's a worker. The other things you could be considering in these types of situations would be ODSP, Ontario Works. These are social services type payments, not available to most people because they will only pay out if your total family income is below a certain threshold. But if you don't qualify for anything else, that may be something you want to look at. Although if you are a worker, then more than likely you're going to qualify for one of the two of EI sickness or the short-term disability benefits through an insurance policy through your There are two other possibilities that may apply in some situations. That would be WSIB or workers' compensation. If you've had a workplace injury, there are short-term disability benefits available through that program. And finally, if you're in a car accident in Ontario, all car accident insurance does include payments that can be made to you if you have to be off work because of your injuries and disability. So that's it. Those are the main areas where you would be able to get some type of a short-term disability payment if you've been injured or suffered an illness in Ontario and are unable to work. If you have any other questions, don't forget to leave your comments down below and we'll see you back next time.