Eligible Employees

• Eligible people include employees who have worked for at least 1 month for an employer required to provide benefits and personal or domestic employees who work for one employer at least 40 hours. Employees who transfer from one covered employer to another will receive coverage beginning the first day of his new job and unemployed covered workers for the first 26 weeks of unemployment provided they are eligible for unemployment benefits.
  
  

Nature of Benefits

• Eligible employees will receive cash benefits under short-term disability law that equals 50 percent of their take-home pay but cannot exceed more than $170 per week. Disability insurance does not provide payment for medical expenses.
  
  

Benefit Length

• The state imposes a maximum payout time of 26 weeks. The employee cannot receive benefits until the 8th day of disability.
  
  

Employee Contribution

• The state allows employers to deduct money from its employees' wages to offset the costs of providing disability benefits. Deductions cannot exceed 60 cents per week, however. In some instances, an employer can deduct more than this but will need special authorization.
  
  

Penalties

• Required employers who do not obtain disability insurance for their workers face possible penalties. Examples include but are not limited to a fine of ½ of one percent of the employer's payroll during the period in which the business did not comply, fines ranging from $500 to $2,500 and imprisonment up to 1 year.