All staff who can work at home should continue to do so. Only with an explicit request from a supervisor should a staff member return to campus. For more information, review COVID-19 Workplace Guidance.
Disability – Managerial and Professional
Short-Term disability plan
Eligibility
Eligible participants are regular employees who are scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week. Eligible employees are automatically enrolled in the Short-Term Disability Plan at no cost to the individual.
Benefit
The Short-Term Disability (STD) plan, in conjunction with Sick Pay, provides M&P staff with salary protection for up to 26 weeks for extended absence due to a non-work related illness or disability. The plan is applied per disability.
Pregnancy/Childbirth: You are eligible to apply for Short-Term Disability (STD) to cover your salary while on a disability leave due to pregnancy or childbirth. Eligibility for pregnancy-related STD only applies to the period that you are disabled, as determined by your physician. The standard period of pregnancy disability is the two weeks prior to delivery and the eight weeks following delivery. For disability of longer duration, a physician’s statement is required. After the disability eligibility period ends, you can use any available PTO or sick days in order to be paid during a Child Rearing Leave.
Short-Term Disability will start after the one-week waiting period (Week 1) and after the staff member uses the prerequisite number of sick days (see table below) or Paid Time Off (PTO). Depending on a staff member’s available sick days, Short-Term Disability will start as early as Week 2 and no later than Week 9 of an eligible disability.
During Weeks 2 – 8, Short-Term Disability provides 100% salary coverage, and during Weeks 9 – 26, 60% salary coverage.
How short-term disability works for extended absences
The following chart assumes the staff member works a standard 5-day work week:
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Week 1 |
Sick days or paid time off (PTO), if no sick days are available, can be used to cover the 1 week waiting period. |
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Week 2 - 8 |
100% Short-Term Disability salary coverage starts when staff have 1 week of sick accruals remaining. Based off a standard work week, this would be when the staff member has five (5) or fewer sick days available. Please review the following examples to determine when Short-Term Disability would begin:
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Week 9 - 26 |
60% Short-Term Disability coverage regardless of available sick days |
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Week 27 and beyond |
Apply for Long-Term Disability - |
Application process
View instructions on filing a Short-Term Disability by telephone.
Supplemental coverage
You have two options available to increase your disability pay above 60% during Weeks 9 – 26:
Option 1: You may supplement the 60% Short-Term Disability coverage with paid time off (PTO) to make up for the 40% not covered by the plan.
Example: If you are full-time at 7.5 hours per day and receive 60% Short-Term Disability, you can use three (3) hours (40% of 7.5 hours) of PTO per day absent to supplement the partial salary coverage from Short-Term Disability; adding both PTO and Short-Term Disability will bring you to 100% salary coverage.
Option 2: You can substitute a sick day for Short-Term Disability to receive full pay, as well.
Example 1: If you have fewer than five sick days, Short-Term Disability begins Week 2 at 100%. You would first cover Week 1 with a combination of available sick days, PTO or unpaid days.
Example 2: If you have 20 sick days, Short-Term Disability begins during Week 4 at 100%. You would first cover Weeks 1 through 3 with 15 sick days. When your bank of available sick time drops to five sick days, Short-Term Disability begins.
Example 3: If you have 100 sick days, Short-Term Disability begins during Week 9 at 60%. You would first need to cover Weeks 1 through 8 with 40 sick days, which is the greatest number of sick days you would be required to spend down.
Long-Term disability plan
Eligibility
Eligible participants are regular employees who are scheduled to work at least 20 hours per week.
Eligible employees are automatically enrolled in the Long-Term Disability Base Plan at no cost to employees on base salaries up to $150,000.
Benefit
Under the Base Plan on the first of the month following 180 days (6-month elimination period) of total disability resulting in lost earned income of 20% or more, staff are entitled to receive 60% of their base monthly earnings to a maximum of $7,500 minus any other payments received, such as Worker’s Compensation or Social Security disability payments.
Staff participating in Supplemental Disability Coverage (see below) have an additional maximum of $12,500 of coverage. The monthly benefit will not be less than $100.
Supplemental coverage
Faculty and staff with base annual salary levels between $150,000 and $400,000 may purchase supplemental disability coverage on a payroll deduction basis. The maximum monthly benefit is $20,000 ($7,500 of base benefit plus $12,500 of supplemental coverage). Enrollment is automatic when first eligible without evidence of insurability (with ability to opt out anytime).
The insurance carrier for this coverage is The Standard Insurance Company.
Application process
View instructions on filing a Long-Term Disability claim by telephone.
Applications made after 60 days from date of hire or eligibility will require proof of insurability and approval by the carrier.