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Davidson College provides income assistance to full-time employees who must be absent for an extended period of time due to bona fide sickness or injury.
Eligibility
Employees in regular, full-time positions are eligible for this benefit after one year of continuous employment.
Policy Details
All accrued sick and vacation leave must be exhausted before commencement of short-term disability. Employees lacking enough sick and/or vacation leave to cover the period prior to eligibility for short term disability (STD) compensation will be advanced the appropriate amount of sick leave, provided there has been no history of abusing the college's sick leave policy. All advanced leave will be repaid upon return to work.
STD leave may be requested for the following:
• Personal illness
• Recuperation from surgery
• Recuperation from birth of a child (pregnancy)
• Personal injury not covered by Worker's Compensation
Combined sick leave and STD leave may not exceed 180 days (6 months).
If the employee fails to return on the previously agreed-upon date, the college shall assume that the employee has resigned effective immediately and the employee shall forego rights to payment for accrued vacation days. If a holiday occurs while an employee is on an approved STD leave, the employee will receive STD pay for that day but not the full holiday pay.
Salaried (exempt) employees
• Eligible to receive 75% of last base salary after 90 days of absence
• Salaried employees must wait 90 days due to the vacation accrual differential between beginning salaries and hourly employees (see vacation leave policy)
Hourly (non-exempt) employees
• Eligible to receive 75% of last hourly rate of pay after 30 days of absence
Process
• To request short term disability, the employee should submit a written request to the Director or Associate Director of Human Resources. The written request should be accompanied by a doctor's statement which:
o Fully outlines the medical condition
o Clearly specifies that the employee is unable to work
o Includes an estimated return to work date
• The college reserves the right to question the documentation presented and to request a second opinion from a doctor designated and paid by the college. Any need for periodic certification of continuing disability will also be outlined upon approval of the request.
Faculty
Eligibility
Faculty members in regular, full-time faculty positions are eligible for this benefit after one year of continuous employment.
Policy Details
Short-term disability leave may be requested for the following:
• Personal illness
• Recuperation from surgery
• Recuperation from birth of a child (pregnancy)
• Personal injury not covered by Worker's Compensation
Tenured faculty members are eligible to receive 100% of their base salary while on short-term disability leave. Non-tenured faculty members are eligible to receive up to 75% of their base salary while on short-term disability leave. Since they do not accrue vacation and sick time, faculty members are not required to fulfill a 90-day waiting period before short-term disability begins. The short-term disability benefit provided by the college will end when the faculty member returns to duty, when the faculty member becomes eligible for long-term disability coverage, or after six months, whichever comes first.
Short-term disability leave may not exceed 180 days (6 months). When a faculty member is allowed to teach a reduced schedule, in keeping with paragraph D in section 2.4.1 of the Faculty Handbook without a reduction in pay, the amount of time not worked will be counted as part of the short-term disability leave and any subsequent leave allowance will be reduced by the time already paid but not worked. A full time faculty member is scheduled to teach 5 courses per year. A reduction of one class in a semester would result in a subsequent reduction of short-time disability leave by one-fifth.
Family Medical Leave will run concurrent with short-term disability coverage. If the faculty member fails to return on an agreed-upon date, the college shall assume that the faculty member has resigned effective on the date the faculty member was expected to return to work. If a faculty member is unable to return to work at the end of the short-term disability leave, the faculty member's employment with the college will end.
Process
To request short-term disability benefits, the faculty member should submit a Family Medical Leave request, which consists of a form completed by the employee and a form completed by the employee's doctor. The request must fully outline the employee's medical condition; clearly specify that the employee is unable to work; and include an estimated return to work date. The college reserves the right to question the documentation presented, to request a second opinion from a doctor designated and paid by the college, and to require periodic certification of continuing disability.
In addition, the faculty member should inform his or her chair about the leave in as timely a manner as possible so the chair can make necessary arrangements for someone to take over teaching and other duties. However, the faculty member is under no obligation to share any private medical information with the chair or anyone else, except for information included on the Family Medical Leave request submitted to HR. All private medical information submitted on that request form will be kept confidential within the HR Department.
Questions regarding this policy should be directed to Human Resources at x 2213.
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