Benefits Handbook

In all of the various scenarios described, you must satisfy the eligibility requirements and qualifications for STD benefits, and the claim must always be approved by the Claims Administrator.

If you return to work and then are absent again due to the same and/or a related serious health condition, the amount of time you have been back at work determines whether the later absence is counted as part of the same STD absence or a new STD absence, subject to approval by the Claims Administrator.

If you return to work and then are absent again due to the same or a related serious health condition within 26 weeks (182 days) of your return to work, the absence will be treated as one (1) continuous period of disability. This means any remaining STD Benefits can begin immediately, without an applicable Elimination Period, at the level of STD Benefits to which you are entitled, subject to approval by the Claims Administrator.

If you return to work and then are absent again due to the same or a related serious health condition within 26 weeks (182 days) of your return to work, but you had already used all of 26 weeks of STD Benefits, you will not be eligible for any additional STD Benefits and will have to apply for Long Term Disability benefits.

If you return to work for 26 weeks (182 days) or longer, an absence due to the same or a related serious health condition will be treated as a new STD event. For example, if you had been absent from work for exactly eight (8) weeks following surgery, returned to work for twenty-eight (28) weeks and then were absent again due to complications from the surgery, the new absence would be considered a new STD event and a new period of STD. You would have to satisfy any applicable Elimination Period and have the absence approved by the Claims Administrator in order to be eligible for STD Benefits.

If you are out on approved STD absence and suffer from a second and unrelated serious health condition before returning to work from the first serious health condition, the entire absence is treated as one (1) STD leave for which you can receive up to 26 weeks of STD Benefits related to both conditions.

If you return to work and are absent again due to a new serious health condition, you are immediately eligible to apply for STD Benefits of up to 26 weeks related to the new serious health condition and will be subject to any applicable Elimination Period.