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U.Va. Human Resources
Short Term Disability Benefits
Announcing two major changes to our short term disability benefits, often thought of as "sick leave" for absences greater than five days (including maternity). At the University, short term disability benefits are linked to an employee's retirement plan.

New Hires in VSDP

The 2009 Appropriations Act makes changes to the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program (VSDP), effective July 1, 2009. All new and re-hired employees in the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) will have a one year waiting period before becoming eligible for any Short Term Disability benefits. This waiting period is new—current employees had immediate access to the benefit.

After the one year waiting period, employees will receive reduced benefits (60% of their salary) for the next five years of their employment. This is also a change from the current graduated benefit schedule. While this primarily affects new University Staff hires, any new faculty who select VRS as their retirement will be covered by this plan. As more information is released from the Department of Human Resources Management, UHR will make it available to employees.

All employees in the ORP

The University is making the move to a managed Short Term Disability benefit program for all the employees in the University’s Optional Retirement Program (ORP). These changes would apply to both Teaching & Research (T&R) and Administrative & Professional (A&P) faculty, as well as any Professional Research Staff and University Staff in the ORP.

Beginning Dec. 21, 2009, ALL claims for short term disability benefits for employees in the ORP will be submitted to a third party vendor, who will be responsible for handling the claim. Once claims are approved, there will be different income replacement depending on employee type. To read more about the Short Term Disability Benefit, click here.