SHORT-TERM DISABILITY PROGRAM FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ELIGIBILITY / WHEN STD CAN BE USED Who is eligible to receive Short-Term Disability (STD) benefits? Chicago Public School Board employees who are members of an eligible class. Eligible class is defined as: a) Collectively bargained employees; or b) Non union employees (employees who are not members of a bargaining unit); AND both classes who meet all the following criteria: 1. Who is a benefits-eligible employee under Board rules or policies; and 2. Who is actively employed in their position with CPS What is the effective date of coverage for the Short-Term Disability program? The CPS Short-Term Disability plan was launched January 1, 2013. Define disabled or disability relative to the CPS Short-Term Disability Plan? Disabled and disability mean that a non-occupational injury, sickness, or pregnancy prevents you from performing the essential duties of your regular position with CPS or the duties of any suitable alternative position with CPS. Furthermore, you must be under the regular care and attendance of a physician. In addition, time off work for maternity will be treated as a disability under rules established by the Board even though the employee might actually be able to perform his or her duties. Standard approval periods for a disability following delivery of a child without complications are as follows: six (6) weeks for a vaginal delivery, and eight (8) weeks for a cesarean section delivery both counted from the date of delivery. What is the benefit of implementing Short-Term Disability? This new plan pays a weekly benefit intended to replace income lost during periods of disability that have resulted from a non-occupational injury, sickness, or pregnancy. Short-Term Disability allows you to continue to receive a full or partial salary for up to 90 days in a rolling 12-month period. A rolling 12-month period is measured from the date you used any Short-Term Disability. What are the differences between Short-Term Disability (STD) and Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)? Although Short-Term Disability (STD) and Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) may run concurrently, there are differences between the two leave types. With Short-Term Disability, if you become injured or sick to the point that you have to miss work for a short period of time for your own serious health condition, shortterm disability will help to replace some of your income. With Family Medical Leave Act, the 1993 federal law entitles a covered employee to take up to 12 weeks of leave in a 12-month period for the birth or adoption of a child or the serious health condition of the employee or the employee s child, spouse, or parent. 1
The table below reflects the differences of the two plans. Short-Term Disability (STD) Facts STD is an employer-paid benefit and may cover short periods of a temporary disability ranging from a few days to a few weeks not to exceed 90 days in a rolling 12-month period, during which a person is unable work due to an employee s own medical condition. STD provides income replacement equal to a percentage of your base salary if you are unable to work due to your own illness or non-work related injury. This plan is administered by Sedgwick and requires appropriate medical documentation. It is possible to be on FMLA without collecting STD or the two may run concurrently. Applying for Short-Term Disability How do I apply for STD benefits? Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Facts FMLA is a federal act that grants qualified employees up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job protected leave each year. This leave can be taken for certain family and health-related reasons including the birth of a child, adoption, the care of an immediate family member suffering from a serious illness, or the employee s own serious health problem. FMLA is unpaid but does provide job protection. This plan is administered internally through CPS and appropriate medical documentation is required. FMLA and STD may run concurrently A phone call to the Sedgwick Disability Claims Center at 1-866-251-9251 initiates the process. You may also submit Short-Term Disability claims online. The online claim reporting option link is https://viaoneexpress.sedgwickcms.net/?clientid=8l2-0a5mpomweilvswphnyhpsc0* What are Sedgwick s hours of operation when submitting a claim for STD or if I should have questions regarding my claim? Customer service intake and inquiries are available from 7:00 A.M. CST to 8:30 P.M. CST, Monday through Friday. Intake for new claims is available 24/7, 365 days a year. What key pieces of information will I need to provide to Sedgwick when initiating my STD claim? There are key pieces of employee information that will be helpful when initiating a claim with Sedgwick during the intake process. This is not intended to be a complete list of information but can dramatically increase the ease of the intake process. Treating physician/provider name, phone, fax (if available) Employee ID number (SSN if not available) Last day physically at work First day of absence Date disabled/taken off work by physician Next physician office visit date Estimated release from disability date Disabling Condition Do I need department approval to apply for STD benefits? No. However, you should inform your supervisor if you are unable to come to work as soon as possible after sustaining an injury or due to illness, or as far in advance as possible for anticipated absences. You should review with your supervisor how/if you plan to use personal time off (PTO) or sick days. 2
Does my doctor have to complete paperwork to document my illness or injury? Yes. You are responsible for submitting the appropriate medical documentation. Sedgwick will also contact the doctor to obtain the necessary information. STD benefits will not be issued without medical documentation. While on STD, how much of my salary do I receive? The length of salary replacement is determined by the length of your disability not to exceed 90 days under the STD plan. If you are disabled, which has resulted from a non-occupational injury, sickness, or pregnancy and have submitted all requested documents to Sedgwick, the percentage of salary coverage will be applied based on disability period below. The STD percentage shall be: Calendar Days 1 30: 100%. During the period beginning on the date of disability and continuing up to and including the 30 th day, the percentage shall be one hundred percent of the Daily Rate of Pay. Calendar Days 31 60: 80%. During the period beginning on the 31 st calendar day from the date of disability and continuing up to and including the 60th day, the percentage shall be eighty percent of the Daily Rate of Pay. Calendar Days 61 90: 60%. During the period beginning on the 61 st calendar day from the date of disability and continuing up to and including the 90th day, the percentage shall be sixty percent of the Daily Rate of Pay. RETURNING TO WORK What do I need to do to return to work? All CPS employees need to reach out to the Talent Office Leave Administration Team to obtain a Return to Work authorization Form. What happens if I exhaust all of my STD benefits, and I am not ready to return to work? If you are still unable to return to work, you may explore other FMLA options. Reference all FMLA forms on hr4u.cps.edu. If you do not return to work, you will be required to use benefit days. You may be eligible to use sick days with appropriate medical documentation. OTHER FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Will employees who were approved for FMLA prior to January 1, 2013, qualify for the benefit? Yes. If you are on an approved medical leave that began on or after July 1, 2012, and your doctor substantiates a disability and you are still within your FMLA time period. If FMLA is exhausted, and there is no longer job protection but you remain out on disability, you may apply for STD leave. Your current medical situation will be taken into account to verify qualification under the STD medical plan. 3
The Chicago Public Schools Short-Term Disability Plan is an important result of the collective-bargaining agreement for the contract year effective July 1, 2012. Therefore, any disabilities or leaves that began prior to this date are not eligible for short-term disability benefits. I just had a baby. May I apply for Short-Term Disability? Yes, the Short-Term Disability standard approval periods for maternity leave are as follows: six (6) weeks from the date of a vaginal delivery and eight (8) weeks from the date of a cesarean section delivery. The standard approval period includes your 10-day waiting period. I am a new father. May I apply for Short-Term Disability? What are the options for dads? Short-Term Disability is separate from a Parental Leave. A Parental Leave is another great employee benefit that CPS has added in 2012 that allow for 2 weeks of paid time off work during the birth of your child, if you meet the parameter of the parental leave. Paternity leave is the time a father takes off work at the birth or adoption of a child. The term Parental Leave includes maternity, paternity, and adoption leave. The Parental Leave Policy provides paid time off to eligible employees to care for a child after the child s birth or adoption. An employee can receive 100% of base pay for up to ten (10) business days. Paid parental leave runs concurrently with any unpaid FMLA leave and any applicable state or local family or medical leave laws. Who will administer my sick days if I would like to use sick days to supplement STD pay? Will there be a point of contact in Payroll? All sick day administration for supplemental payments will be handled by Sedgwick. A supplemental sick day form will be provided in your claims packet. May I use sick days to cover intersession and holiday while on STD? No. We retain the same policy guidance for short-term disability as our current absence policy. You may use your vacation and holiday time during those time periods. Will our plan be retroactive if an STD claim is approved? No. The STD benefit for CPS began January 1, 2013. Does STD run concurrently with FMLA? Yes, as long as the employee meets FMLA eligibility. Short-Term Disability (STD) and Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) run concurrently. If a short-term disability is caused by a serious health condition as defined by FMLA, the two forms of leave will run concurrently and claim applications will be required. To apply for FMLA, please visit hr4u.cps.edu. All forms may be obtained on the My Policies & Resources tab How do I section. To submit a short-term disability claim, please call Sedgwick at (866) 251-9251. 4
You may also submit Short-Term Disability claims online. The Sedgwick online claim reporting option link is https://viaoneexpress.sedgwickcms.net/?clientid=8l2-0a5mpomweilvswphnyhpsc0* Under the maternity policy (child rearing leave) employees are allowed to take on COBRA after 5 months. When would the COBRA program start calculating? Does the clock start day one of STD or does this apply when they are only on FMLA? There is not a change to the child rearing leave. The Short-Term Disability Plan is separate from the Child Rearing Leave Policy. Under the Child Rearing Policy, you maintain benefits for 5 months. After 5 months of benefits, employees may apply for COBRA if they remain on an unpaid leave. Cobra would begin on the first of the following month in which you applied. This does not impact the Short-Term Disability plan. Does the STD policy cover shorter time frames of a disability, such as having the flu for a few days? Is there a minimum number of days that an employee must be out past the 10-day exhaustion? No. There is not a minimum number of days that an employee must be out past their 10-day exhaustion. STD will cover even short periods of an illness as long as medical documentation had been provided and approved. You must exhaust 10 sick days prior to your period of disability. 5