Short Term Disability claim denied because of mistake by employer

[cherierobinson16]

I live in Massachusetts. I enrolled in my companies short term disability plan in October 2009 for the 2010 year. I have the confirmation statement to prove it. This October I got my Total Compensation Statement and it said that I was not enrolled in the plan. Up until then I did not know that. I called the benefits service center and was told that they had failed to deduct for it over the year and there was nothing they could do to fix it. I told them that I was willing to pay the retro amount for the year but that didn't matter. I filed an appeal with the Employee Benefit Review Committee but I received a letter stating that it was denied. They said "The EBRC confirmed that you enrolled in STD coverage during the 2010 Open Enrollment period. This election was not entered into our HRIS/Payroll system." At the end it stated "Based on the lack of payroll contributions for 2010 and the date you first contacted the Benefits Service Center, we are unable to approve your request for a retroactive enrollment in the STD plan for 2010. Additionally, our contract with our disability vendor limits our ability to make retroactive changes." Over the phone they told me that the best I could do was to enroll for 2011. The problem is that on November 30, 2010 I was taken out of work by my doctor because of pregnancy complications. I am not due to deliver until January 15, 2011. I have a 16 month old son to take care of and a newborn on the way. There is no way I can pay my bills without an income. I have been told that since my leave started in 2010 our disability company will not pick up an existing claim in January even if I'm enrolled in the plan. Is there anything I can do to resolve this? I am willing to pay the amount that should have been deducted over the year. I just don't think I should have to suffer the consequences for a mistake that was made by the company. Please let me know, I only have one more paycheck coming and it won't even be for 2 full weeks. Thank you

Optional Information:
State/Country relating to Question: Massachusetts

Already Tried:
I contacted the benefits service center approximately 6 times in October and November. I documented each call so I can find out the exact number of times and the dates if I need to. I contacted our Employee Action Response line twice and was told that they don't deal with benefits problems. I filed an appeal with the Employee Benefits Review Committee

 

[Peppermint]

I can understand the rule. You knew there were deductions involved in this coverage and you waited 10 months to bring it to the attention of anyone. You have the responsibility to mitigate your damages, and you did not do so by failing to perform such a simple task as reviewing your pay stub.

 

[cbg]

This is what I do for a living. If you worked for my current , you'd have a one in six chance of getting me when you called the benefits office.

We wouldn't let you make the change at this point either. Had you checked your pay stubs back in January and brought it to our attention immediately, that would be one thing. But ten months after the fact? No matter who made the initial error, you compounded it by waiting so long to address it. I can't think of any employer who would allow you to correct this ten months after the fact.