However, if an employee has less than 30 calendar days of sick leave, when that sick leave is exhausted the employee would go on approved leave without pay and could begin to receive disability benefits. The seven-day waiting period is designed for employees who may not have much accrued sick leave. Because of the shorter waiting period, the premium costs are the most expensive. To reduce the premium cost, an employee who has 30 calendar days or more of accrued sick leave may want to change the waiting period to 30 days or 90 days. An employee who does not have sick leave and does not wish to use vacation leave must still satisfy the disability waiting period.
Disability benefits end when the doctor releases the employee to return to work.
Since the Benefits Unit cannot have ANY medical information, the department should obtain the release date on a medical slip from the employee. The University's Workers' Compensation administrator will then reimburse Liberty Mutual if Liberty Mutual has already made payments. If the claim is not approved by the Workers' Compensation administrator, Liberty Mutual will pay disability benefits due if the claim passes their approval. However, an employee who has worked at the University for less than 18 months must apply for SDI in addition to applying for Liberty Mutual, in order to get an SDI determination of benefits. If the employee receives benefits from SDI, Liberty Mutual will deduct that amount from the benefit it pays.