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February 6, 2014

Pitt’s leave program detailed

FMLA leave can be taken intermittently, such as for regular physical therapy sessions, or continuously, such as after the birth or adoption of a child.

FMLA leave can be taken intermittently, such as for regular physical therapy sessions, or continuously, such as after the birth or adoption of a child.

More than 1,600 Pitt employees took leaves last year using the federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), while more than 600 claimed short-term disability, with about 60 transitioning from short- to long-term disability.

“Everyone’s situation is completely different,” said Aynsley Jimenez, supervisor of benefits in Human Resources, who made a presentation about leave benefits to this month’s Staff Association Council brown bag seminar on Jan. 23. Jimenez, who oversees the administration of leaves, was assisted by Jane Volk, manager of employee relations, who is the University’s expert on the FMLA law.

baby.momStaff members who call off from work for more than three consecutive days for a serious condition — which typically means being under a doctor’s continuous care, although that encompasses simply being on medication — should file for FMLA leave, Jimenez said. “You never know what [the absence] is going to turn into,” she noted, and the FMLA is designed to guarantee an employee’s right to return to his or her job. The filing can always be withdrawn, Jimenez said.

Those who are able to plan an FMLA leave for an operation or other medical circumstances are expected to give a 30-day notice.

FMLA provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave not only due to a staffer’s medical condition, but to allow the staff member to take care of a spouse, child or parent, and for the birth, adoption or foster care of a child. These 12 weeks can be taken continuously or intermittently.

“If you have a need to take off, say, a day a month, that could still qualify for FMLA,” Jimenez said — perhaps using it to take a family member to a monthly doctor’s appointment, or to undergo chemotherapy or physical therapy while still working. “It is good to advise your supervisor … if you think you have a need to take intermittent FMLA.”

Staff members are eligible for FMLA once they have worked at least 1,250 hours at the University within a year. This represents 65 percent effort and thus covers the typical part-time staff member. Volk noted that, if you worked at Pitt for a year within the past seven years, left and then returned to Pitt recently, the previous year-long working period still may qualify you for FMLA.

During an FMLA leave, staff members are required to use all accumulated sick days. They are not required to use personal or vacation days, although they may wish to do so to maintain income during this unpaid leave. During a leave, staffers do not accumulate sick, vacation and personal days.

“The length of time you receive these benefits all depends on your medical condition,” Jimenez said of leaves for personal illness, “and that is all determined by MetLife,” which administers FMLA, short- and long-term leaves. The insurance company’s clinical staff determines your eligibility and manages the medical portion of your claim. Jimenez says the company is good at calling to keep track of evolving leave situations and sending forms for the staff member to fill out. “Make sure … you’re responding to those promptly,” she said.

“The University, because of health care privacy issues, we don’t want to know what your medical condition is,” she added. “As a supervisor, you don’t want to ask your employee why they are going out,” apart from clarifying whether an absence is part of an intermittent FMLA leave or due simply to a cold.

MetLife, with input from your doctor, also determines whether the leave is continuous or intermittent. In either case, Jimenez said, employees still must use PRISM TRKS to log employment hours.

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“Once  your  FMLA  is exhausted, you still may be eligible to be on short-term disability,” Jimenez said. In fact, the two leaves sometimes are taken simultaneously, with FMLA protecting your job and short-term disability providing a portion of your pay.

Unlike FMLA, the short-term disability program may be used only for the staff member’s benefit, not to care for a family member. Short-term disability provides 60 percent of your pay for up to six months following a 30-calendar-day “elimination period” of unpaid leave, which may take place during FMLA. Here again, staff members are required to use sick days while on this leave, but are not required to use personal or vacation days.

Employees are eligible for short-term disability after working for the University for six months at 50 percent effort or greater. The 30-day “elimination period” is waived for those who have been out on a prior short-term disability claim within the previous 90 days.

University benefits continue to employees during FMLA and short-term disability leaves. Employees not receiving a paycheck during this time will be billed for the cost of the benefits that normally is deducted from their paychecks, although those out for only 30-day leaves can wait to pay for that single month of benefits once paychecks resume.

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Maternity falls under both FMLA and short-term disability leaves. Women who give birth, adopt or undertake foster care are eligible for two different types of leave: a personal claim for six-eight weeks of medical leave (six for a vaginal birth, eight for a Caesarean section), and a child-bonding leave.

Jimenez emphasized that the latter leave “is not necessarily to take care of a sick baby” — it can be used literally for bonding time. It must be taken within the child’s first year and must be for a continuous set of days, but it need not be taken the moment a mother’s six- to eight-week medical leave ends.

Maternity leave also requires the staff member to wait for the 30-day elimination period before receiving short-term disability pay, and requires the use of all sick time. Paternity leave under FMLA — up to 12 weeks off — is available for new fathers.

More information on these leaves is available on Human Resources’ new-parent website (www.hr.pitt.edu/node/763).

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Returning to work requires medical approval in the form of a return-to-work slip. The date on the slip must match the date of return. Don’t come back later, Jimenez warned.

“Don’t come back early,” Volk added, “unless the doctor approves it,” in which case a new return-to-work slip is required. Seventy-five percent of first-proposed end dates change, Jimenez said.

MetLife must approve absences past an original end date, based on new information from the staff member’s physician. Alternatively, the employee may discuss a personal leave request with Employee Relations.

Those on the initial, medical portion of maternity-related leave still need a return-to-work slip, but it is not required of those out on child-bonding leave.

If a staff member decides not to come back but instead to resign, FMLA law allows the University to charge this employee for the medical benefits paid during an absence.

However, Volk said, “there are lots of exceptions,” particularly if the disability that causes a resignation is related to the disability that prompted the initial leave.

Those whose doctor allows them to come back only on a part-time basis may transition from continuous FMLA to intermittent, with the cooperation of the employee’s department and Human Resources. Typically, Jimenez said, a department will approve temporary part-time work with the expectation that it will last no more than three months.

After two-three months on short-term disability, MetLife will begin working with an employee to determine if transferring to long-term disability is appropriate. Those on long-term disability may continue their benefits through MetLife, with Pitt billing them for the cost. After 24 months of long-term disability, Jimenez noted, “the government usually gets involved” and could provide the employee with Medicare and sometimes Social Security disability benefits.

Long-term disability may last until the employee is 65.

—Marty Levine