Leave of Absence & Disability Insurance

Currently, in case of absence due to a serious health condition for more than three consecutive workdays, an employee is required to:

• Notify his or her supervisor; 
• Must also report the leave to MetLife:
• Please keep in mind, an employee may keep his/her benefits elections while on a paid leave of absence.
  • Sick and vacation time will not accrue while receiving short-term disability benefits
• During a paid leave of absence, the University’s contribution to the defined contribution retirement plan (DCRP) will continue to be made for an employee on the basis of the compensation being paid by the University. In addition, any pay increases due an employee during an approved short-term disability will be delayed until the employee returns to work.
• Lakeside faculty members or a 9 or 10-month employee who becomes disabled while on a scheduled break in the academic schedule will not be considered as disabled until the date regular work activities are scheduled to resume.

For additional information, see the General Leave of Absence and Family/Medical Leave Act Policy.

Staff members who expect to be out of work for more than three days (e.g. Short-Term Disability) should:

• Notify your supervisor
• File the claim
• Submit required documents to the leave administrator for both processing and approval

Faculty members interested in learning more about how to file a Leave of Absence claim, please visit the Faculty Checklist on the Leave of Absence Checklist website.

Short-term disability (STD) coverage provides salary replacement to eligible employees during a medical leave due to non-work-related medical conditions that prevent one from performing regular work responsibilities for three or more days. This benefit is provided at no cost to employees.

• Review the Short-term Disability Policy for more information.

Short-Term and Long-Term Disability insurance terminates on your last day worked. Refer to the Benefits Booklet, located in the Resources section (upper right), for a summary of STD and LTD benefits.

Long-term disability (LTD) coverage provides 66-2/3% of salary replacement to eligible employees during a medical leave due to non-work-related medical conditions that prevent one from performing regular work responsibilities for more than 90 consecutive calendar days (more than 180 consecutive calendar days for faculty and administrators). This benefit is provided at no cost to employees.

• Review the Long-term Disability Policy for more information.

Short-Term and Long-Term Disability insurance terminates on your last day worked. Refer to the Benefits Booklet, located in the Resources section (upper right), for a summary of STD and LTD benefits.

A leave of absence may be granted to maintain continuity of service when extenuating circumstances require an employee's absence. Learn more about the Family and Medical Leave Act, including eligibility details:

• Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Policy

Refer to the Paid Parental Leave Policy for more information.

Instead of paid parental leave, maternity leave guidelines apply to *eligible Faculty: one semester of paid maternity leave may be taken during the pregnancy or immediately after birth. 

Eligible Faculty is defined as a birth mother whose Faculty appointment is tenured, tenure-track, or non-tenure-track as described in the Faculty Handbook in Chapter 4, Sections A and B. Any portion of the semester leave that is medically related will be a paid medical leave under Short-term Disability benefits. The remainder of the leave for child care will be paid by the department. Eligible Faculty birth mothers are not eligible to take paid parental leave in addition to paid maternity leave.

A Faculty member who wishes to take a paid leave of absence is required to consult with his or her chairperson and/or dean no later than three months before the beginning of the planned leave to discuss the needs of both the Faculty member and the department/school. All maternity and paid parental leaves will be confirmed by the Provost, who also retains the authority to grant exceptions or variations. 

*Birth mothers who are eligible Stritch School of Medicine faculty became eligible for one semester of paid maternity leave (formerly 12 weeks) for children born on or after January 1, 2019. This revision reinforces consistency in paid maternity leave for all faculty, and exceeds the requirements of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA).

The University will provide benefits under the Workers' Compensation Act and the Workers' Occupational Diseases Act for an employee who suffers an accidental injury or a disabling occupational disease arising out of and in the course of employment by the University. 

Please see the Workers Compensation policy for additional information.