location: Pennsylvania, USA

I'm currently not working due to having entered "full time" (5 days a week) treatment for substance use and mental health. This wasn't really expected, but it kinda had to happen when it did, for reasons you can probably assume. I was approved today for full disability pay, which is 5 weeks full pay followed by 5 weeks half way if I want it.

What I realized today when I received my approval letter was that there is a 6 day "waiting period" before said full time pay kicks in, during which time I have the option to use my accrued PTO. I have approximately 5 hours of PTO accrued. There is apparently no way around this according to my company's benefits 3rd party company (Sedgwick) which to me looks like is basically an excuse for my company to just not pay me for 5 days. Despite approving me for disability pay and acknowledging that I have a condition that's worthy of reimbursement so that I can you know, like, live and pay my bills.

I guess what this comes down to is that the world is shit. And that major companies are greedy and don't care about your health. Is that all there is? Is there an actual way around this?