The University Medical Leave Plan is designed to provide a continuing income for employees who meet the eligibility requirements during extended medical absences of greater than five days and up to 90 days. The University’s Long-Term Disability plan provides for medical absences in excess of 90 days.
A serious health condition is defined, for the purpose of this plan, as any illness, injury or impairment that involves in-patient care or the continuing treatment by a health-care provider that renders an employee unable to perform the essential functions of the employee鈥檚 job. Maternity and childbirth leave is also covered by this plan.
Leave under the University’s Medical Leave Plan is in conjunction with and not in addition to leave entitlement under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act.
Eligibility
If a serious health condition keeps an employee from work for longer than five business days, the employee may be eligible to receive benefits under the University鈥檚 Medical Leave Plan. In order to be eligible for the University鈥檚 Medical Leave Plan, an employee must:
- Be a regular full-time employee of the University
- Have worked for the University for at least 12 continuous months
- Not have received benefits under this plan within the previous 30 days
How the Plan Works
As soon as an employee is aware that they will need to be out for a medical reason that will last more than three days, the employee must complete the Leave of Absence Request form located on the Human Resources website. The University’s Human Resources Benefits office will contact the employee and provide FMLA documentation materials which includes the FMLA Rights & Responsibilities letter and Certification of Health Care Provider.
In all instances, prior to receiving benefits under this plan, the employee must provide Human Resources with all required information and documentation, including medical certification of the need for medical leave. The University reserves the right to request a second medical opinion of the employee鈥檚 condition from a doctor of its choice, at its own expense. Abuse of this policy may be cause for disciplinary action by the University.
Benefit Payments
The amount of paid leave an employee will be eligible for under the University鈥檚 Medical Leave Plan is determined by the length of time medically necessary for the employee鈥檚 recovery as stated by the certifying physician and the employee鈥檚 length of service with the University.
Once Human Resources has determined an individual鈥檚 qualification for salary continuation under this plan, the benefit amount is paid out in the following combinations of full and/or partial pay:
LENGTH OF SERVICE | FULL PAY | 80% OF SALARY |
Less than 1 year | None | None |
1 year but less than 3 years | Up to 6 weeks | Up to 5 weeks at 80% for staff Up to 6 weeks at 80% for faculty |
3 years but less than 5 years | Up to 8 weeks | Up to 3 weeks at 80% for staff Up to 4 weeks at 80% for faculty |
5 or more years | Up to 11 weeks for staff Up to 12 weeks for faculty | N/A |
Any payment received from the University under this plan shall be reduced by payment from other sources, such as workers鈥� compensation, Social Security, or other non-individual disability coverage.
Benefits, retirement contributions and taxes will continue to be deducted from employees’ paychecks, as they are still considered an active employee.
University staff have a five-day waiting period for benefits under the University鈥檚 Medical Leave Plan. During this five-day waiting period, the staff member must use any available sick leave, if applicable. If the staff member has exhausted all accrued sick, they will then use vacation leave or personal leave. If a holiday falls in the five day waiting period, the staff member may also receive holiday pay to help satisfy the waiting period (for example, eight (8) hours of holiday pay and 32 hours of sick leave). There is no waiting period for faculty since they have no accrued leave.
University staff using maternity leave have a five-day waiting period and must use sick leave before the employee will receive University Medical Leave. This will run in conjunction with Family and Medical Leave. Once University Medical Leave ends, the employee can use sick, vacation or personal leave until the end of their Family and Medical Leave.
Full-time staff and faculty will receive holiday pay for any holiday that falls during a period of their approved University Medical Leave. This means that staff and faculty will not have to use sick, vacation or personal time for that day.
Should University Medical Leave end before Family Medical Leave, an employee may use their accrued leave (sick/vacation/personal) for the remaining time that their absence is supported by medical documentation. If an employee has exhausted or chooses not to use their accrued leave (sick/personal/vacation), the employee will be placed on an unpaid Leave of Absence. During that unpaid Leave of Absence, the employee will not be paid for a holiday that occurs during this time period.
After receiving benefits under the University鈥檚 Medical Leave Plan, there shall be a 30-day break before an individual is eligible to receive benefits under this plan again. The 30-day break begins on the employee鈥檚 first day back to work. Should an employee need a second medical leave during the same rolling 12-month period as the first, any balance that remains from the first medical leave may be used for the second up to a maximum of 11 weeks for staff, 12 weeks for faculty.
Continued Coverage
In order to continue to receive benefits under this plan, the employee must remain under the regular care of a physician and must provide periodic updates to the appropriate supervisor as to the status of the employee鈥檚 condition no less than every two weeks unless the employee has provided medical certification covering a period longer than that.
If the date of the employee鈥檚 return to work changes at any point while the employee is on medical leave, the employee must immediately provide Human Resources with an updated notice from the employee鈥檚 health provider.
The University reserves the right to seek a second opinion or recertification of an employee鈥檚 medical condition.
Returning to Work
The day an employee returns to work and before beginning work, the employee must present a doctor’s release statement indicating that the employee is medically able to return to work. This statement shall be given to the Human Resources Benefits office.
(Revised August 2022)