Unum Short Term Disability for Pregnancy: Pay, Duration, Filing

Unum short-term disability for pregnancy generally pays six weeks of benefits after an uncomplicated vaginal delivery and six to eight weeks after a cesarean section, at roughly 50% to 70% of your base salary, minus a waiting period that can run anywhere from three to 30 days depending on your employer’s plan. Pregnancy is handled the same way as any other covered illness, which means the same definitions, the same elimination period, and the same benefit math apply. If a complication keeps you out longer, Unum can extend payments up to the plan’s maximum, usually 25 or 26 weeks.

The exact numbers come from your employer’s certificate of coverage. Unum administers plans for thousands of employers, and the duration, the weekly cap, the waiting period, and the pre-existing condition language all vary from one workplace to the next. The framework below is what stays consistent.

How Long Unum Pays After You Deliver

For a normal vaginal delivery, Unum’s standard guideline is six weeks of disability from the delivery date. A Unum maternity FAQ states that “many plans allow six weeks from the delivery date” and that “six weeks is a guideline for both types of delivery,” including cesarean sections.¹

Some employer plans build in a longer recovery period for a C-section. Multiple Unum certificates of coverage state that employees who have a cesarean section are “considered disabled for a minimum period of eight weeks” unless they return to work sooner.²³ Whether yours uses six or eight depends on the policy language.

These approved weeks are not stacked on top of the waiting period; they include it. A plan that approves six weeks for a normal delivery and has a seven-day elimination period produces about five weeks of actual paid benefits.⁴

The Waiting Period Before Payments Begin

Every Unum STD plan has an elimination period, meaning days of disability that pass before any benefit is payable. Among plans in common use, elimination periods run as short as three days and as long as 30:

A three-day elimination period appears in some plans, such as one administered for CoorsTek, where the first 10 days of benefits (including the elimination period) were paid at 100% of pre-disability earnings.³
A seven-day elimination period is common across group plans, including those covering Boeing machinists.²
A 30-day elimination period applies in plans like the University of Arizona’s, where benefits begin on the 31st consecutive day of disability. That plan carves out exceptions: if you are hospitalized as an inpatient for at least 24 hours during the waiting period, benefits begin on the date of hospitalization, and if the disability results from outpatient surgery, benefits begin on the surgery date.⁵

The waiting period is not retroactive. Benefits do not snap back to the delivery date once it ends. Many employers allow accrued PTO or sick time to fill the gap, which is worth asking HR about before you deliver.

How Much Unum Pays Each Week

Unum STD plans pay a percentage of pre-disability base salary, with the percentage and the weekly cap set by the employer. Across common plans the percentage falls between 50% and 70%, and weekly maximums range from $750 to $2,000.

The University of Arizona plan offers three tiers: Option A pays 70% of base salary up to $750 per week, Option B up to $1,500, and Option C up to $2,000.⁵ Penn State’s plan pays 60% of weekly income with a $1,500 weekly maximum and caps the covered annual salary at $130,000.⁶ Base salary in these calculations excludes commissions, bonuses, overtime, and other supplemental pay.

Payments can also be reduced if you receive income from other sources, including other insurance, retirement programs, or government programs.⁴ STD benefits are issued weekly. Setting up direct deposit through your Unum account can get payments to you about a week faster than a mailed check.⁷

Filing the Claim

The quickest filing route is Unum’s web portal or the MyUnum for Members mobile app. Paper forms are available through HR or at unum.com/claims. A complete initial submission has four pieces:⁴

The Employee Statement, which you complete with personal details, employer information, job title, scheduled hours, absence dates, and expected return-to-work date.
The Employer’s Statement, completed by your employer or HR department.
The Attending Physician’s Statement, completed by your treating physician or certified nurse midwife.
A signed medical authorization form permitting Unum to obtain your medical records.

Unum aims to make an initial decision on most complete STD claims within five business days of receiving all the required forms.⁴ The usual cause of delay is a physician’s office that is slow to return records, so following up with the practice directly helps move things along.⁸ Giving electronic consent during filing avoids slower postal correspondence.

Extending Benefits for Complications

The six or eight weeks is a starting point, not a ceiling. Complications of pregnancy, including preeclampsia, extended bed rest, and postpartum depression, are covered on the same basis as any other sickness, so there is no separate pregnancy-specific cap. Benefits can run up to the plan’s maximum, typically 25 or 26 weeks.⁴

Getting the extension approved requires updated medical information showing you still meet the policy’s definition of disability. The Unum maternity FAQ notes that unless a specific C-section recovery period is built into the policy, extensions beyond the standard guideline are considered only on receipt of medical documentation identifying “specific medical complications that prevent you from working.”¹ Treating physicians generally need to provide narrative reports describing the complication and why it prevents you from performing your job duties.

When Pregnancy Might Not Be Covered

Most Unum group STD plans contain a pre-existing condition clause. The standard version treats a condition as pre-existing if you received treatment, consultation, diagnostic services, or prescribed medication for it in the three to twelve months before coverage took effect, and the disability begins within the first 12 months of coverage.³

Whether this knocks out a pregnancy claim depends entirely on the plan. Penn State’s plan states that benefits are not payable for pregnancy if the employee is already pregnant at initial enrollment.⁶ The University of Arizona’s plan goes the other way, stating that the pre-existing condition exclusion “does not apply to maternity care and treatment, or complications of pregnancy,” unless the complication itself began before coverage took effect.⁵ If you are pregnant or planning to be when you enroll, check the certificate or ask HR specifically how the pre-existing clause treats pregnancy.

One other coverage gap matters: individual Unum STD policies, sold directly rather than through an employer, are a different product. One Unum individual STD policy form covers normal pregnancy only after a nine-month waiting period from the coverage effective date, meaning no benefits for giving birth within the first nine months of enrollment. Complications of pregnancy are still covered the same as any other sickness. That policy uses a 30-day elimination period and pays for up to six months.⁹ If you have an individual policy rather than a workplace group plan, the maternity timing works very differently.

How Unum Lines Up With State Leave and FMLA

In states with their own paid medical leave or paid family leave programs, Unum STD benefits usually run alongside state benefits during the same absence. The combination is capped in most cases at your regular pre-disability earnings.

California’s rule is that combined employer-provided disability payments and state Disability Insurance payments cannot exceed your regular gross weekly pay. You must report all employer payments to the state to avoid overpayments.¹⁰ New York state disability benefits cover four weeks before the due date and six weeks after a vaginal delivery (eight for a C-section), at 50% of average weekly wages capped at $170 per week; state disability and Paid Family Leave cannot be collected simultaneously, and the combined total cannot exceed 26 weeks in a 52-week period.¹¹ New Jersey’s Temporary Disability Benefits pay up to 26 weeks at 85% of average weekly wages (capped at $1,119 per week), and Unum both offers a New Jersey paid medical leave insurance plan and administers employer self-funded plans in the state.¹² Washington State provides up to 14 weeks of paid family and medical leave for pregnancy-related incapacity, with a maximum weekly benefit of $1,456.¹³

Federal FMLA runs on a separate track. It provides up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave for eligible employees, and employers commonly require STD benefits to run concurrently so you have income replacement during that period. The important distinction, as Unum’s own employer guidance puts it, is “when disability ends and bonding begins”: your STD claim covers medical recovery, while any additional FMLA or paid family leave time can be used for infant bonding.¹⁴

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, effective June 2023 with implementing regulations effective June 18, 2024, requires employers with 15 or more employees to provide reasonable accommodations for known limitations related to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, including postpartum depression, lactation, and miscarriage, unless doing so would impose an undue hardship. Employers cannot force you onto leave, paid or unpaid, if a reasonable accommodation would let you keep working. The PWFA has no tenure or hours-worked requirement, so newer employees are covered.¹⁵

If Unum Denies the Claim

Unum can deny or terminate a pregnancy claim for several reasons, most commonly a determination that you do not meet the policy’s definition of disability, insufficient medical documentation, or a pre-existing condition exclusion. Unum reviews medical information to decide whether you meet the disability definition and can request additional records at any point during the claim.⁴

Most employer-sponsored Unum STD plans are governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). You have 180 days from the date on the denial letter to file an administrative appeal, and Unum generally has 45 days to decide, with a possible 45-day extension if more information is needed.¹⁶

The appeal is the stage that matters. If the case later goes to federal court, review is generally limited to the evidence that was in the file during the appeal, so this is the moment to submit detailed narrative reports from treating physicians, any functional capacity evaluations, and documentation that directly answers the specific reasons given in the denial letter. If Unum relies on new evidence or a new rationale during the appeal, it must share that with you and give you a chance to respond before issuing a final decision.¹⁶ If the appeal is denied, administrative remedies are exhausted and you may file suit in federal court under 29 U.S.C. § 1132(a)(1)(B).

1
Montgomery County Public Schools. Maternity FAQ Flyer – Unum
2
Unum. IAMAW District Lodge 751 STD Certificate of Coverage
3
CoorsTek. Short Term Disability Benefit Summary
4
Unum. Disability Insurance
5
University of Arizona. Unum Short Term Disability Brochure
6
Penn State University. Short-Term Disability Benefits
7
Unum. File a Claim
8
Penn State University. Disability Claims Process
9
Bi-State Development. Unum Individual Short Term Disability Flyer
10
California Employment Development Department. Integration and Coordination
11
New York Workers’ Compensation Board. Employee Eligibility and Benefits
12
Unum. New Jersey Paid Leave Laws
13
Seemybenefitsonline.com. State Mandated PFML Guide
14
Unum. The Benefits Briefing: The Leave Maze
15
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Should Know About the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act
16
U.S. Department of Labor. Benefit Claims Procedure Regulation FAQs