Short Term Disability and Maternity Leave - Faculty, Coaching Staff and Residence Life Coordinators

Purpose

Seattle Pacific University offers paid short term disability and maternity leave for its regular faculty, coaching staff (with less than 12 month appointments) and residence life coordinators who: (1) have been employed for 12 months or longer and (2) work a minimum of .50 FTE. Total and partial short term disability leave offers protection from economic hardship caused by short term illnesses or disabilities. Paid maternity leave allows for economic protection during a pregnancy related disability or for recuperation from delivery. Through these leaves, employees are assured of replacement of a substantial portion of their income, based on years of service, in the event of such disability or maternity.

*Coaches who work 12 months are covered under the Staff Short Term Disability/Maternity leave policy.

Description of Benefit

This benefit is provided by the University at no cost to the employee. "Short Term Disability" is defined as an employee's inability to perform some or all of the functions of their job for at least 8 days. A physician's certification of the disability is required. The University reserves the right to require a second medical opinion at the University's expense. Once the disability has been certified, the University will pay 100% of the employee's pre-disability salary for a length of time based on years of service, as shown below:

Pre-disability salary is defined as the regular monthly salary an employee is paid in the month prior to the disability. For faculty members on a two quarter sabbatical receiving half salary for each quarter, pre-disability salary will still be based on the salary month prior to the disability, not the full salary.

Partial Short Term Disability

Faculty members, eligible coaches and residence life coordinators with limited disabilities may in some circumstances be able to work part-time. This policy is intended to be flexible and to provide for a leave tailored to the individual employee's circumstances and to the position which the employee holds. In cases of disability where it is advised by a licensed medical doctor to reduce work load, salary continuation according to the following schedule will apply:

Medical certification should include details about the amount of work load reduction that is reasonable given the circumstances. After the employee has exhausted their months of full pay, partial pay will continue according to the actual reduced FTE. Benefits are reduced in accordance with salary percentage reduction. Any faculty member working at least .75 FTE qualifies for full benefits, and benefits are pro-rated for faculty with FTEs between .5 and .75. Faculty who drop below .5 FTE are no longer eligible for benefits.

Eligible coaching staff and residence life coordinators working at least .80 FTE qualify for full benefits, and benefits are pro-rated for employees with FTEs between .50 and .80.

Eligible coaching staff and residence life coordinators who drop below .50 FTE are no longer eligible for benefits.

If an individual has reduced their work load by at least .2 FTE to accommodate what they believe to be a partial, short term disability, but this condition persists with medical certification for at least 2 months, that employee should consult with the Office of Human Resources for advice regarding the University's long term disability insurance policy.

Maternity Leave

Maternity leave is paid by the University at 100% of salary for 6 weeks. Six weeks is the typical maternity recovery time recommended by physicians. If a physician recommends additional time off from work, either before or after the delivery date, maternity leave will be coordinated with short term disability leave. The University reserves the right to request physician certification prior to extending paid leave beyond six weeks for reasons in conjunction with maternity.

In instances where Short Term Disability and Maternity Leave are combined, the employee will receive the greater of 6 weeks or the length of short term disability leave to which the employee is qualified by years of service.

Maternity leave also falls under the Family and Medical Leave Act, and will be designated by the University and coordinated as FMLA leave.

Adoption Leave

Adoption leave is paid by the University at 100% of salary. Based on an employee's years of service as indicated below, this benefit may be used by an employee who is the *primary caregiver of a newly adopted child within the first two weeks following the adoption, or placement in the home:

Years of Employment	Paid Time Off
Less than one year:	Up to five days
One year or greater:	Up to six weeks

Limitations and Exclusions

*When a mother and father of a newly adopted child are both employees of the University and eligible for this benefit, only one employee is entitled to use this benefit. Family medical leave allows eligible employees to take up to twelve weeks of unpaid time off for specified family and medical reasons, including the placement of a son or daughter with the employee for adoption or foster care, and may run concurrent with paid time off to care for a newly adopted child. Please see the University's Family Medical Leave policy for further information.

Extended Short Term Disability

When a full time faculty member (.75 FTE or greater), eligible coaching staff (.80 FTE or greater), or residence life coordinator (.80 FTE) has applied for total disability and coverage by the long term disability insurance company is confirmed and after the Short Term Disability benefit is exhausted, Seattle Pacific University will pay the disabled employee's monthly salary at 60% of the pre-disability salary, up to the current monthly maximum allowed by the long term disability insurance policy, for the remainder of the six months prior to the commencement of the long term disability insurance payments. The pay continuation during this six-month period is taxable by both FIT (Federal Income Tax) and FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act). During these six months an employee will be eligible for benefits as described in the Employee Medical Leave of Absence Policy.

Part time faculty members (less than .75 FTE), coaching staff (less than .80 FTE), and residence life coordinators (less than .80 FTE) are not eligible for Extended Short Term Disability.

Extended Partial Short Term Disability

After full or partial short term disability benefits are exhausted, an employee may still be eligible to receive continuing benefits. If an employee continues to be partially disabled and submits medical certification from a licensed medical doctor indicating that the employee will remain partially disabled, the employee may qualify for salary continuation according to the following schedule provided that the employee files a claim for long term partial disability insurance that is accepted by the University's long term disability insurance company.

Example

A faculty member with 5 years of service who qualifies for long term partial disability insurance through the long term disability insurance company, whose disability dictates a reduction in work load from 1.0 FTE to .6 FTE would qualify for salary continuation in the following manner:

1. 2 months at .6 of contracted salary plus remaining contracted salary of .4 FTE and,
2. 4 months at .6 of contracted salary plus 60% of remaining FTE (60% of .4 FTE = .24 FTE).

Part time faculty members (less than .75 FTE), coaching staff (less than .80 FTE), and residence life coordinators (less than .80 FTE) are not eligible for Partial Extended Short Term Disability.

Eligibility Requirements for Extended Short Term Disability and Extended Partial Short Term Disability

Faculty with a .75 FTE or greater, coaching staff with a .80 FTE or greater with less than a 12 month appointment, and residence life coordinators with a .80 FTE or greater are eligible for the short term disability or maternity benefit after one year of continuous employment in a regularly budgeted position in which the employee works a minimum of .50 FTE. Continuous employment is defined as employment of one year which is not interrupted by termination and reinstatement.

With the exception of maternity leave, a physician's certification of the disability is required. A physician's certification should include information regarding the length of disability (beginning and end dates) and prognosis for recovery.

*Coaches with 12 month appointments are covered under the Staff Short Term Disability/Maternity leave policy.

Limitations & Exclusions

Adjunct faculty are not eligible for this disability benefit. Regular faculty, coaching staff and residence life coordinators scheduled to work less than .50 FTE and those employed less than one year are not eligible for disability benefits.

Disabilities which recur for the same condition within six months from the date the original disability leave ended will not be considered a new disability. The time period of the recurrent disability will be combined with the original disability leave and short term disability salary replacement will be limited to the length of time for which an employee is qualified based on years of service.

Disabilities which recur after 6 months from the date the original disability leave ended will be considered a new disability and Short Term Disability salary replacement will start over again.

Employees who terminate employment at the beginning of a planned maternity leave will not receive salary replacement. Should an employee decide to terminate employment while using a paid maternity leave, the employee must reimburse the University for the salary received during the leave. Employees on maternity leave who intend to return to work and later change their plans must return to their jobs for one month, giving at least one month's notice. Employee's who return to work after a maternity leave and fail to give this notice must reimburse the University for the salary received during the leave. This same policy will apply to individuals who are on Short Term Disability leave, where their failure to return to their jobs or to give a month's notice is not related to a medical condition.

Since benefits for short term disability and maternity leave are designed to provide reasonable salary protection to employees for the length of the disability (based on years of service) or recovery from childbirth, payment for short term disability or maternity leave will not be extended in length due to breaks between quarters, which fall in between the designated start and end of the leave, (e.g.: A faculty member begins a 12 week leave of absence in the first week of December for childbirth, recovery, and care of the newborn. Paid leave will cease 6 weeks later, at the end of the second week of January (normal physician recommended recovery time from childbirth) regardless of the encompassed quarter break. The remaining 6 weeks would be counted as unpaid FMLA leave.