Benefits-eligible employees (working 30 or more hours per week) are eligible for Short-Term Disability benefits through the salary continuation model due to a serious health condition that prevents them from fulfilling their job responsibilities. Salary continuation will be dependent upon available funds in the Reliant account for which the employee is responsible. Part-time employees who average less than 30 hours per week are not eligible for this benefit. Employees who qualify for Short-Term Disability coverage are eligible to receive 66% (2/3) of their regular wages and to have their health insurance benefits continued and paid by Reliant. Additional pay may be received if the employee utilizes PTO to supplement their wages for the period of time they are receiving Short-Term Disability pay. There is a 2-week (14 calendar days) waiting period before Short-Term Disability begins. PTO may be used toward the 2-week waiting period. The maximum length of Short-Term Disability coverage is 90 days, at which time the employee may qualify for Long-Term Disability coverage. After 90 days, the employee will no longer be eligible for salary continuation or health insurance benefits, except as provided for in the Long-Term Disability coverage and health care continuation coverage. In the event the employee does not qualify for Short-Term Disability coverage, the employee may still be eligible for up to twelve weeks of unpaid leave. See Leave of Absence for more information. Since you cannot work, ME Bonuses and Cell Phone Bonuses are suspended while on Short-Term Disability for months you work less than half of a calendar month/pay period. General Policy
Procedure
The Short-Term Disability Notification process should begin by notifying your Program Team Liaison for instructions and information.
YOUR LIAISONS
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Please be prepared to provide the following information:
- Doctor's note stating the day the disability started (date of surgery, injury, illness, etc.).
- PTO tracking helps determine how much PTO you currently have available for the 2-week waiting period before Short-Term Disability starts and is used for possible wage supplementation while receiving Short-Term Disability pay.
- Bear in mind: in order to return to work, Reliant will need a note from your provider with an exact date which you can return to your duties with or without accommodation.
13 Comments
Unknown User (daniel.cone@reliant.org)
Unknown User (ed.courtney@reliant.org), Mike Swann This page mentions FMLA. Please be sure to update this page when updating the FMLA policy.
Mike Swann
Good catch Daniel. I'll take a look!
Mike Swann
Unknown User (daniel.cone@reliant.org), here's the rewrite
Tonya Bartels
Barb Seckler Mike Swann Hey Mike and Barb, KZ is letting me know about one of our missionaries situation that we be going on STD. That brought up the waiting period. Is it business days or 10 calendar days? My understanding is that the intention is for it to be 2 weeks (at least that has been my experience at other companies). So I believe that the 10 days are business days. I looked this up on line and the waiting period can be 0 to 14 days in the State of FL. This is one of the processes where my understanding is that the verticals own the leave policies and ES process those that end up affecting payroll (STD, unpaid leave), and/or insurance (LTD). I would love for this communication to be improved upon between the program teams and the processing team, as well as better lines drawn of which team is responsible for what. There has never been a form that really addresses this need. The MCN has been used in the past but it is not adequate and it is also very confusing for the missionary to complete. I would love to get this on the docket for a future meeting. KZ and I have managed to fumble through this process for the last 5 years, but with our growth and the addition of other program teams this is becoming a greater need.
My vision would be to have the program teams empowered to collect the information needed during the communication phase of the leave process. Clear instruction for the liaisons/program teams to know when STD and LTD are a possibility and how to communicate that to the processing team (I see a another google sheet or form in our future). The STD policy should be clear and easily communicated by the liaisons to the missionaries, this Solomon page needs to be a little more detailed, maybe include some action steps and who to communicate with and when. If there are payroll questions those can go to the processing team. If there are complex situations (that need customization to the fit the needs of the missionary) the program manger and the Employment and Benefits Specialist will need to meet and navigate/figure out a plan together. Again that is my hope/vision, but it is not scale-able to do what KZ and I have to do each time this comes up and I don't know if the Fixed Term Team would know how to engage in this at all.
Tonya Bartels
Barb Seckler Deborah Kennedy I don't think that a missionary has to be benefits eligible for a year to get short term disability (Reliant's in house policy) I am not sure where we confirm that. I do know that is true to be eligible for long term disability. Also this benefit is not just for FT missionaries, it is for PT30 or more. The first sentence under the box is misleading.
Barb Seckler
That was existing wording but I changed it Tonya Bartels (FYI Deborah Kennedy)
Barb Seckler
Tonya Bartels can you re-read and mark "reviewed" please?
Julie Thomas
Barb Seckler Tonya Bartels Mike Swann Kerry Housley Matt Elkins - I made some changes to the STD policy, specifically by taking out the requirement to use 1/2 or all PTO. This was discussed with Mike and Barb as well as Matt. Can you take a look at the policy and comment with any questions or other suggested changes? I'm holding off on using the workflow because this won't go live for a couple more weeks.
Barb Seckler
I reviewed this - looks great Julie Thomas
Tonya Bartels
Julie Thomas I reached out to RSLI just to check on requirements (if any) that need to be met by our STD policy to qualify for the LTD insurance policy. Their only stipulation is that the LTD would start on the 91st day. I have some thoughts regarding maternity leave and STD that I have shared with Barb Seckler if Barb thinks they are good thoughts we will loop you in to see what you think. Thanks for all of your work on this.
user-1a794
Julie Thomas- As I'm looking at the most recent comments, I want to ask (maybe again) about an employee re-entering work / ending STD. That process needs to be noted on this page.
This is important since the policy says their salary continuation and benefits end at the 90 day mark. I have experienced greater resistance of ppl telling us of STD and i wonder if it is due to burdensome work re-start.
I believe what is needed is for the employee (or supervisor) to notify Reliant that they are well enough to re-start work. In the past a doctors note was required, but I believe that is too burdensome of a requirement. Since STD is about opening the door for LTD - we know from experience that the LTD paperwork will require proof that tehy have not been working at all for 90 days. If they have resumed work, they are ineligible for LTD, whether they notified us or not.
user-1a794
Julie Thompson - i saw you resolved comments here. Did you catch the signficance of my last paragraph? About how people return to work?
Julie Thomas
user-1a794 - I think it would be helpful to talk through the concerns. Perhaps we can add this to our "agenda" for our meeting tomorrow?