Short Term Disability

RIT Short-Term Disability (STD) benefits consists of two parts: 

1. Employee's home state statutory disability benefits (if available)

2. For Regular Employees only, an RIT benefit pay supplement

NEW YORK STATE RESIDENTS - After a one-week unpaid waiting period of seven (7) consecutive calendar days, New York State Disability Benefits (NYS DBL) provide 50% of your pay to a maximum of $170 per week. RIT supplements these benefits as outlined in the New York State Residents section below for Regular Employees.

NON-NEW YORK STATE RESIDENTS - If you reside in California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island or Washington - you may be eligible for state disability leave that you can apply for and receive the RIT supplemental Benefits. Please see section below for Non-New York state residents for the process to follow. 

RIT's Short-Term Disability Supplemental Benefits

• Waiting Period-Week 1 (The first seven (7) calendar days of STD): A mandatory unpaid elimination period, as required under NYS Disability Benefits Law. During this time, both exempt and non-exempt employees may use available Sick/Personal Leave to cover this time by submitting the time as normal. If an employee has no Sick/Personal Leave available, the Waiting Period will remain unpaid unless the employee requests to use available vacation time, subject to supervisor approval.
• Weeks 2-8: Beginning on the 8th calendar day of disability, RIT supplements NYS DBL payments to 100% of your base pay for up to 8 weeks for all approved disability time. 
• Weeks 9-26: RIT supplements NYS DBL benefits to 80% of your base pay for the duration of the approved disability, up to 26 weeks total benefit. 

During periods of reduced wages, such as the 80% STD period, you may supplement with available sick/personal time or vacation. 

If you wish to use sick days to supplement your disability, email fmla@rit.edu with the dates and type of paid time you want to supplement with. Supplemental time will not be automatically applied.

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) runs concurrently with all paid leaves, including STD, when the employee is eligible. 

See the FMLA page for more details. 

RIT's practice is to hold the position of an employee on an approved disability leave for six months (26 weeks).  If the employee is unable to return to work within six months (26 weeks) of cumulative lost time in any rolling 52-week period, the department may begin recruitment efforts to fill the position. Questions regarding an employee's employment status should be directed to their HR Business Partner. 

An employee's benefits coverage (e.g., medical, dental) will continue during periods of STD provided they pay the required employee contributions. The usual payroll contributions for benefits will be taken from your STD pay to the extent there is sufficient amount to cover them. Otherwise, RIT will either deduct the missed deductions when employee returns to work or have our third-party billing administrator bill for the amount due.

Employees will continue to accrue vacation during periods of disability.  However, when disability crosses over into a new fiscal year, the employee may not use the new year’s vacation accrual until they physically return to work.

Employees on disability will not receive holiday pay during periods of disability.

STD benefits extend for a maximum of 26 weeks as approved by Prudential.

Employee on an approved STD claim may be reviewed by Prudential for Long-Term Disability (LTD) benefits around approximately week 19 of their absence.

Employees who have a non-work-related illness or injury (including pregnancy/childbirth) that keeps them out of work for at least seven (7) consecutive calendar days, may be considered disabled and must apply for Short Term Disability benefits through Prudential, RIT's Disability Insurance carrier. 

In addition, employees should report to Prudential when:

• You are hospitalized for any amount of time
• You are pregnant or are absent from work due to pregnancy complications
• You are absent due to a lost-time, work-related injury – after first reporting it to your supervisor

If your absence is planned in advance, you should contact Prudential 30 days before your absence begins (if known) or within 2 days of learning of the need for leave if your absence is to begin within 30 days.

Additional information to know: 

• Employees who fail to contact their supervisor and Prudential will be considered to be on unauthorized leave. If the unauthorized leave continues for three working days, there may be disciplinary action, including termination of employment.
• RIT reserves the right in all cases of absence due to illness or injury to have the individual examined by an appointed or approved physician prior to or at the time of return to active employment.
• It is not necessary to be confined in a hospital to receive benefits from this plan, but you must be under a doctor’s care. The doctor must provide documentation to Prudential, the insurance company, as requested throughout your disability. Prudential will make a determination on your claim, as described in the Procedures for Disability Claims and Appeals.

All regular full time and part-time employees are eligible for Short Term Disability (including supplemental pay) after four weeks of employment at RIT, or as of your first day of employment if coming from another New York State Disability covered employer. 

Non-regular employees (adjunct and student employees) are eligible for only New York State Statutory Disability benefits. 

Prudential is RIT's administrator for disability leave management for RIT regular employees (faculty and staff). Claims should be opened within 30 days prior to a known absence or within 2 days of learning the need for leave.

To open an STD claim, call Prudential’s toll-free phone number 877-908-4778 or 844-778-4255/TTY or open online at https://mybenefits.prudential.com

Information to Provide Prudential:

• Employer name: Rochester Institute of Technology
• RIT Control Number: 50757
• Employee ID (found in Workday)
• Reason for absence
• First day absent
• Work schedule
• Known or expected return to work date
• Name, fax, and telephone number of the treating physician

IMPORTANT! Employees who are unable to report to work due to an absence must notify (or have someone else notify, if unable) their immediate supervisor or the department head within a minimum of one hour of their scheduled reporting time. You do not need to give details about your medical condition.

Non-regular employees (adjunct and student employees) are eligible for only New York State Statutory Disability benefits (NYS DBL) administered by MetraComp. 

Adjunct and student employees who require a medical leave of absence must email the RIT Leave Administration Team at fmla@rit.edu. 

Employees on an approved disability leave receive their STD pay through the RIT payroll system on normal pay periods.

RIT STD benefits is comprised of two parts for New York State employees: 

• New York State Disability (NYS DBL) benefits
  • After a one-week unpaid waiting period of seven consecutive calendar days, NYS DBL provides 50% of your pay to a maximum of $170 per week &
• RIT STD supplement that will bring you to 100% or 80% base pay as outlined below 

STD pay may continue until Prudential determines that you are no longer disabled, up to a maximum of 26 weeks in a rolling 52-week period. Employees must continue to provide medical documentation to Prudential for review and benefits extension as needed during their claim. STD claims lasting longer than 26 weeks will be evaluated for Long-Term Disability (LTD) benefits.

To allow time for your healthcare provider to submit required medical documentation, following the one-week unpaid Waiting Period, RIT will continue your regular pay through Week 2. If Prudential does not receive and approve the necessary documentation within this time, your pay will be paused. Once approved, benefits will be reinstated retroactively to the date they were suspended.

While on STD leave, employees must:

• NOT perform RIT-related work. Non-work-related tasks, such as benefits changes (e.g., open enrollment), are permitted.
• Maintain communication with Prudential and their manager regarding updates to their absence such as extensions, return-to-work dates, or medical accommodation needs.
• Ensure the medical provider completes and returns all required documentation on a timely basis to Prudential.  IMPORTANT! Any request for extension of disability benefits beyond the initial approved through date will not be paid by RIT until Prudential has received medical documentation to support continued disability and approved the extension of benefits. 
• Inform RIT Human Resources and Prudential if you have permanently relocated and now work or reside outside of New York State.

Five days before your scheduled return to work date, Prudential will contact you to confirm your ability to return. If you have any accommodations or need to extend your disability leave, you must report this information to Prudential. 

IMPORTANT! You may not return to work until after you have confirmed your ability to return with Prudential, and any accommodations are reported and approved by both RIT and Prudential.

To request accommodations in the workplace due to a disability or other documented medical condition, employees should speak to their supervisor or Lori Sykes, Compliance and Ethics Manager (Phone 585-475-7393/ljspsn@rit.edu). Employees will be asked to submit a Medical/Disability Accommodation request along with supporting documentation of the disability or medical condition.

After a period of approved total disability, an employee may recover enough such that the employee is able to return to work, but not at their regular work schedule. For example, a full-time employee may be able to return to work on a part-time basis. Since the person is no longer totally disabled, this can no longer be considered short-term disability under New York State law. Therefore, RIT has a self-insured partial disability benefit; under this benefit, an employee can return to work from an established total disability on a reduced work schedule so they can progress back to the regular schedule.

In order to be eligible for this partial benefit, the employee must have an existing total disability claim approved by Prudential. The employee can then apply for partial disability:

1. The employee’s doctor must provide medical documentation to Prudential to support a partial return to work that outlines the work schedule, restrictions and duration (the duration of partial disability benefits cannot exceed a maximum of four weeks);
2. Prudential contacts RIT Human Resources with the details;
3. RIT Human Resources provides the details to the employee’s manager/supervisor so he/she can determine if the partial disability can be accommodated and;
   • If the department can accommodate the partial disability, Prudential will review the medical documentation to determine if it can be approved;
   • If the department cannot accommodate the partial disability, RIT directs the employee to complete a Medical/Disability Accommodation request to the Compliance and Ethics Manager for review.
4. If Prudential approves the partial disability, the employee receives pay for the time worked and short-term disability pay for the time not worked - if within first eight (8) weeks, the supplemental pay of 100% would apply. If after the first eight (8) weeks, then it would be 80% supplemental pay.

Employees should visit State Paid Leaves to navigate to their states’ benefits website platform which will include how to apply, eligibility information, and any changes made by the state. Employees may also inquire directly with their home state.

Once an employee applies for and receives confirmation of the state benefits, they must send official written documentation to RIT at fmla@rit.edu. This documentation must include dates of leave and pay received by the state.

Eligible employees must also apply for Family and Medical Leave (FMLA) benefits and RIT Supplemental Pay, if eligible, through Prudential. See the Applying for Short-Term Disability tab above for Prudential application steps.

If an employee’s home state does not offer state leave, they must contact the RIT Leave Administration team at fmla@rit.edu for further assistance.

Employees may qualify for and use state leave and STD absence benefits in the same calendar year. These leaves may be taken in sequence, but not concurrently. Combined, these leaves are limited to 26 weeks in a rolling 52-week period.  

Regular employees: Once an employee has applied for and been approved for disability benefits from their state and confirmed this information with RIT, they will receive the balance of RIT Supplemental Pay.  Pay will follow:

Week 1: Unpaid Waiting Period. The first seven (7) calendar days of Short-Term Disability constitute a mandatory unpaid elimination period. During this time, both exempt and non-exempt employees may use available Sick/Personal Leave to cover this time by submitting the time as normal. If an employee has no Sick/Personal Leave available, the Waiting Period will remain unpaid unless the employee requests to use available vacation time, subject to supervisor approval.

Weeks 2-8: 100% Supplemental Pay.

Weeks 9-26: 80% Supplemental Pay. Employees may request use of available sick time or vacation for periods of reduced wages by emailing fmla@rit.edu

Non-regular employees: Once an employee has applied for and been approved for disability benefits from their state, they receive only the state benefit for the entire duration of their leave. No RIT Supplemental Pay is provided. Employees may request use of available sick time for periods of reduced wages by emailing fmla@rit.edu

STD may extend for up to 26 weeks. Around absence week 19, employees may be reviewed for Long-Term Disability benefits, if eligible, by Prudential.

RIT will hold the position of an employee on approved disability leave for 26 weeks in a rolling 52-week period.  If the employee is unable to return to work within this timeframe, the department may begin recruitment efforts to fill the position. 26 weeks is inclusive of all leave types including STD, state leaves, and Workers’ Compensation.