Extended Disability Leave

8/14/2019 Extended Disability Leave

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Human Resources Management Policy

EXTENDED DISABILITY LEAVE( Formerly LEAVE OF ABSENCE WITHOUT PAY)

POLICY 20

NOTE: THIS POLICY, LIKE ALL OTHER MUSC HUMAN RESOURCESPOLICIES, IS NOT A CONTRACT OF EMPLOYMENT AND SHOULD NOT BERELIED UPON AS SUCH. THIS POLICY MAY BE CHANGED AT ANY TIMEBY THE MEDICAL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

I. POLICY

A. Employees in FTE positions may be entitled to a leave of absence for adisability due to illness, injury or maternity. The leave of absence may be with orwithout pay, depending on the reason for the leave of absence and the employeesavailable accrued leave.

B. Prior to receiving approval for extended disability leave, employees will berequired to provide appropriate certification from their physician/health care

practitioner.

C. If approved, extended disability leave will be granted with reinstatement privileges to the same position or to a position in a comparable pay band forwhich the employee is qualified.

D. Under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), serious or chronic healthconditions may be protected for up to twelve (12) weeks.

E. Under the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), certain extended illnessesmay be protected as a disability and may require reasonable accommodation.


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F. Department heads may grant up to thirty (30) calendar days of extendeddisability leave for medical reasons or a leave of absence for personal reasons.

G. Extended disability leave in excess of thirty (30) calendar days must berequested in writing from the Director of Human Resources Management.

II. INFORMATION AND PROCEDURES

A. An extended period of disability due to illness, injury or maternity cannotexceed: (1) 180 calendar days of combined leave with pay and leave without pay;or, (2) 180 workdays of leave with pay. Consideration will also be given for aleave of absence for personal reasons.

B. A request from an eligible employee for extended disability leave up to 180days will not be denied for bona fide medical reasons, provided appropriate

procedures are followed.

1. An employee must request in writing a leave of absence for thirty (30) days orless from his/her department head indicating the reason for and projectedinclusive dates of the requested leave, regardless of pay status.

2. Prior to the approval of an extended disability leave, a physicians or healthcare practitioners verification of the illness/disability will be required. Theverification must include the date on which the serious health condition beganand/or when the employee became a patient of the physician/health care

practitioner and the possible duration of the condition/illness.

3. An employee must request in writing, from the Director of Human ResourcesManagement, extended disability leave in excess of thirty (30) calendar days. Therequest must indicate the reason for and expected duration of the leave. A currentmedical certification from the employees physician/health care practitioner must

be provided before the request can be approved.

4. The Director of Human Resources Managements approval cannot exceed 180days. Included in the calculation of the 180 days is leave received under theFamily and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and/or the 30-day leave of absencegranted by the employees manager/supervisor.

C. Employees unable to return to work at the end of 180 days may forfeitreinstatement privileges and be separated from employment.

D. Under extenuating circumstances, the President of the Medical University, athis discretion, may extend the disability leave up to a total of 365 calendar days;

provided the physician/health care practitioner certifies the employees return towork within the 365 day time period.


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Included in the calculation of the 365 days is leave received under FMLA, the 30-day leave of absence granted by the employees manager/supervisor and theextended disability leave granted by the Director of Human ResourcesManagement.

E. An employee must use all allowable sick leave before going into a leavewithout pay status unless the President, at his discretion, grants an exception atthe request of the employee.

F. An employee has the option of using or retaining accrued annual leave prior togoing into an unpaid leave status.

G. An employee, who finds the total period of approved extended disability leaveunnecessary, must notify the manager/supervisor a minimum of five working daysin advance of the anticipated return date so that appropriate scheduling and/orstaffing arrangements can be made. Failure to do so may preclude early return to

work.

III. STATUS OF BENEFITS

Employees who are granted extended disability leave without pay must contactthe Payroll Office to insure their benefits are maintained. Failure to contact thePayroll Office may result in cancellation of health, dental, life and disabilityinsurance coverage and the South Carolina Retirement Systems pre-retirementdeath benefit.

IV. SALARY AND STATE SERVICE CREDIT

A. An employee returning from an extended disability leave without pay will be paid at the same rate at which he/she was paid at the time the leave commenced.Legislative general increases and salary increases resulting from adjustmentsmade in the pay range during the period of an authorized leave of absence will begranted.

B. Extended disability leave without pay of more than thirty (30) consecutiveworkdays will not be credited as State service for determining annual leaveearnings.

C. Employees do not accrue sick, annual, and holiday leave while on extendeddisability leave without pay.

V. PERFORMANCE REVIEW DATE

Employees, who are granted extended disability leave without pay in excess ofthirty (30) consecutive workdays, will have their performance review datesadvanced one (1) calendar day for each calendar day, beyond thirty (30) days, that


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they were on leave without pay. In applying this rule, any day for which a full-time or part-time employee is paid will not be counted in determining the numberof workdays the employee is on leave without pay.

VI. FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT (FMLA)

Extended disability leave may qualify under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)and, if so, will run concurrently. Refer to the Human Resources Management Policy No.30, Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), for additional information.

VII. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT

Certain illnesses/health conditions may be protected as disabilities and, upon return froma leave of absence, employees may require reasonable accommodations to perform theessential functions of their job. Refer to Human Resources Management Policy No. 24,

Reasonable Accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) , foradditional information.

Approved by: Information Contact Revised

John C. Sutusky, Ph.D.

Vice President Finance &Administration

HR Classification,Compensation &

Employment

June2004
http://www.musc.edu/hrm2/policies/policy24.htmlhttp://www.musc.edu/hrm2/policies/policy24.html

Documents

Extended Disability Leave