That's the problem. I went about 25 years without using all of my sick leave in any year, some years I didn't us ANY! BUT...then I got hit with "The BIG ONE"! I was out for 9 months...and blew through our (miniscule) sick leave very quickly, (remember when we went to 75% pay?) and then onto long term disability, which only pays 50%.

THIS was shortly after we took a 42% pay cut!

Yeah, that's 50%... of the 58% we were now being paid!

NO, DPMA does NOT make up all the difference.

DPMA works on a sliding scale, the longer you've been here, the less % of your pay you get if you go on LTD.

A NEW HIRE gets 50% of new hire pay, but a 20-25 year guy, not so much. Not even close. I think I was getting about 22%.

And what about all my unused hours of sick leave over the prior 25 years?

All Gone, up in smoke.

Just like my mortgage, my car, my Cub, and my boat.

Yeah, it can happen when you have 4 kids in college and then you have "The Big One!"

Worst part? It was due to an illness (viral meningitis) I contracted while on a layover in Kuwait City.

OJI denied!

FUPM!