Benefits Handbook for Faculty and Professional Research Staff

If You Become Disabled

If you become totally disabled and cannot work, here is what happens to your benefits:

Disability Income: Faculty (Code 102)

If you are a faculty member, when you first become ill you should make arrangements with your Dean for salary continuation. If your physician advises you that your disability is total and will last more than six months, contact the Benefits Office for a TIAA Group Total Disability Application. After six months of total disability, you may be eligible for benefits under the TIAA Group Total Disability Plan, and Social Security. For more information, see the TIAA Group Total Disability Plan description book, available from the Benefits Office.

Paid Sick Days and Disability Pay: Professional Research Staff (Code 103)

Eligibility

Paid sick days are granted to professional research staff in order to insure continuity of income when the employee is absent due to verifiable disability, including maternity disability. Each year, an employee may use up to five days of accrued sick leave when necessary for the care of his or her sick child or the child of a registered domestic partner. Two of these five days may also be used when necessary to care for a sick spouse, registered domestic partner, parent, sibling, parent-in-law, or grandparent. Waiting periods and allowances are described below.

Full Time Employees in Code 103

New Hires: If you are a permanent, full-time employee in code 103 and began work on or before the 15^th day of the month, you will receive credit for one paid sick day at the end of that month. Sick days thereafter are accrued at the rate of one day per completed full calendar month of service, until you have worked at the University for one full year.

After One or More Years of Employment: The number of paid sick days available to you increases with the length of employment, as shown below. Paid sick days are not cumulative from year to year.

How to calculate sick days available at the beginning of an illness:

1. Determine the maximum allowance based on the preceding chart.
2. Subtract from this maximum the number of sick days used in the 12 months prior to the onset of the current illness.

Part-time Employees in Code 113

If you are a permanent employee who works part-time, you are entitled to a pro-rated sick leave based on the number of hours you are scheduled to work each week. (Eligibility for sick days follows the same guidelines as for full-time employees, as described above.) Use the formula below to determine the number of paid sick hours available to a part-time employee.

1. Multiply by seven the number of sick days to which you would be entitled if you worked full-time. This converts days to hours.
2. Divide the number of hours you work each week by 35 (a full time week) to determine what fraction of a full-time week you work.
3. Multiply the answer from step 1 by the answer from step 2 to determine the maximum number of sick hours currently available.

Conditions Applicable to Sick Days for Codes 103/113

1. You must notify your supervisor (or someone designated by your supervisor) early in the workday whenever you will be out because of illness or disability.
2. Sick pay will be given only for days already earned.
3. Sick days may be used only for absence due to illness or disability. Your supervisor may require medical verification for any absence.
4. Sick days may not be used during a vacation.
5. If a holiday occurs while you are receiving paid sick days, you will be paid for the holiday in place of a sick day.
6. An employee may be disciplined or dismissed for abuse of the sick leave benefit or excessive loss of time.

Illness or Maternity Disability Leave for Codes 103/113

If your illness, injury, or disability continues after you have exhausted your available paid sick days, you may request to be placed on illness (or maternity disability) leave of absence.

Normally, you may request an illness leave for up to three months, and apply for an extension up to three additional months if the disability continues. However, if you are totally and permanently disabled, your total leave may be up to 30 months or until you are eligible for retirement, whichever comes first.

Illness or Disability of 26 or More Weeks for Employees in Code 103

If the illness or disability is expected to continue for six months or longer, you may be eligible for benefits through the University’s long term disability plan (TIAA Group Total Disability Plan) and Social Security Disability. (See Disability Insurance)

You should apply for TIAA and Social Security disability benefits as soon as you become aware that your disability will extend beyond six months.

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Social Security Disability Insurance (Codes 102 and 103)

If you are totally and permanently disabled for more than six consecutive months, you may also be eligible for Social Security Disability benefits. Contact your local Social Security Office as soon as you learn you may be totally disabled for more than six months.

Family and Medical Leave Act (Codes 102 and 103)

Faculty and Professional Research staff are entitled to all provisions of the Federal Family and Medical Leave Act that are not specifically provided for herein. For more information, contact the NYU Benefits Office.

Workers’ Compensation (Codes 102 and 103)

Workers’ Compensation provides salary continuation and/or payment of medical bills in the event you are injured in the course of employment. See Workers' Compensation for further information or contact the NYU Insurance Department.

If You Are Awarded Long-Term Disability Benefits (Codes 102 and 103)

Retirement Plan

If you are receiving monthly income from the TIAA Group Total Disability Plan, NYU will also contribute monthly to your NYU Retirement Plan account. See the NYU Retirement Plan Summary Plan Description for details.

Health and Life Insurance Coverage

If you have completed 10 or more years of full-time continuous NYU employment and are receiving Group Total Disability benefits through TIAA, you are eligible to continue NYU group health and life insurance coverage by enrolling in the NYU Retiree Medical Plan and electing to continue health and life insurance as a retiree of the University (see Benefits Available to You in Retirement).

If you have less than 10 years of NYU employment, you may be eligible to continue NYU group health and life insurance coverage for a limited period of time paying the full group rate premium.

In either case, consult the Benefits Office for details.

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