State laws different than company policy for maternity leave STD coverage

I live in state of Virginia. (Company headquarters is California but there is an office here, so I am both an in-state resident and employee). I am a woman, considering getting pregnant in the near future, so I went on a rabbit hole researching maternity leave and related rules/laws. Came across two VA state laws that were passed in the last few years.

The first is 51.1-1110 which states that the waiting period for STD coverage is now 1 day instead of 7 for maternity leave only.

The second is SB 567 which states that the STD coverage must be paid for a 12 week period following childbirth.

https://scc.virginia.gov/getattachment/12fe5bae-0f9c-4351-a9b0-75098314b4e8/Disability-arising-out-of-Childbirth-§-38-2-3407-11-4-A.pdf

waiting period law

My employer policy states that STD coverage has 7 day waiting period. Pregnancy is included as a disability with this 7 day waiting period, and I’m pretty sure it’s 6-8 weeks paid coverage.

I contacted insurance company about this who said the employer must request the change. I’ve reached out to my company but still waiting on answers.

What are my rights as a VA state resident if I were to get pregnant and they had not updated this policy ? Am I still subject to company policy even though it’s not adhering to state laws? Would I need to threaten to get a lawyer involved? Why aren’t benefits companies advising companies on major applicable changes such as this? What’s the point of state laws if they don’t get followed???

submitted by /u/Apprehensive-Cow9831
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