Intermittent leave is leave taken in separate blocks of time due to a single qualifying reason. If you are on an intermittent leave, you may return to work at irregular intervals (e.g. days, weeks, or months apart).

Most state and private disability providers require you to wait for a certain period (typically 7 days) before you can receive benefit payments. This means that if your leave is shorter than 7 days, you will not be eligible for payment from state and private disability providers and you won't need to file claims. If you're taking multiple legs of leave, you should file your claims once your total number of leave days exceeds 7.

Some intermittent leaves may require you to submit a detailed work letter. When Cocoon pre-fills your claim for intermittent leave, we only have the ability to list the first day of your leave and the last day of your leave, even if there are multiple legs. Since you may return to work at various points in this date range, state and private disability providers require a work letter that outlines which days you’ll be working during your leave, along with the number of hours worked. This letter is required so that state and private disability providers can distribute your benefit payments correctly.

It depends on the state providing your benefit payments. Cocoon recommends always submitting a detailed work letter for intermittent leaves.

If calling is required for you to report your hours worked, Cocoon can provide the contact information for your state or private disability provider. These entities often update their contact information, and we want to ensure that you’re able to get in touch with the right department as easily as possible.

If you are going on an intermittent disability leave, you will need to create and give a detailed work letter to both your medical provider and the state and/or insurance provider. You will include this detailed work letter when you send the claim to both your medical provider for certification and when you submit or mail your claims.

If you are going on an intermittent bonding leave, you will need to create and give a detailed work letter to just the state providing benefits. You will include this detailed work letter when you submit or mail your claim.

The detailed work letters you send to your medical provider or the state/insurance are slightly different, so you will want to make sure you send the right work letter to the right entity.

To the [insurance or state benefit program],

I am writing to inform you of my intermittent leave dates:

Leg 1: I plan to start my first leg on [start date] and plan to return to work on [next weekday after end date]. My work schedule is as follows: Monday (xam-xpm), Tuesday (xam-xpm), Wednesday (xam-xpm), Thursday (xam-xpm), and Friday (xam-xpm) for a total xxhrs per week.

Leg 2: I plan to start my next leg on [start date] and plan to return to work on [next weekday after end date]. My work schedule is as follows: Monday (xam-xpm), Tuesday (xam-xpm), Wednesday (xam-xpm), Thursday (xam-xpm), and Friday (xam-xpm) for a total xxhrs per week.

Leg 3: I plan to start my next leg on [start date] and plan to return to work on [next weekday after end date]. My work schedule is as follows: Monday (xam-xpm), Tuesday (xam-xpm), Wednesday (xam-xpm), Thursday (xam-xpm), and Friday (xam-xpm) for a total xxhrs per week.

Please contact me at [your cell] for additional questions on my work schedule, or contact my employer [insert employer name].

Sincerely,

[Your Signature]

[Insert Your Name]

Note: If your leave does not have a medical disability component (ex: you are a birthing parent and you only need to file a bonding claim), then you do not need to send a detailed work letter to your physician.

To Dr. [Insert Your Physician’s Name],

I am writing to inform you of my intermittent medical leave dates as required by the [State Entity] and [Private Disability Carrier].

The [State Entity] and [Private Disability Carrier] requires that the leave dates are listed from the start of my first leg through the end of my last leg. I then supply a detailed work letter like you see below with my claim to provide the days worked in between each leg:

Leg 1: I started my leave on [start date] and plan to return to work on [next weekday after end date]. My work schedule is as follows: Monday (xam-xpm), Tuesday (xam-xpm), Wednesday (xam-xpm), Thursday (xam-xpm), and Friday (xam-xpm) for a total xxhrs per week.

Leg 2: I started my next leg on [start date] and plan to return to work on [next weekday after end date]. My work schedule is as follows: Monday (xam-xpm), Tuesday (xam-xpm), Wednesday (xam-xpm), Thursday (xam-xpm), and Friday (xam-xpm) for a total xxhrs per week.

Please contact me at [your cell] for additional questions on my work schedule, or contact my employer [insert employer name].

Sincerely,

[Your Signature]

[Insert Your Name]