Disability

Short-term Disability

Virginia Sickness and Disability Plan (VSDP) - Faculty and Staff

Staff employees with at least one year of service, and some faculty members who are participants in the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program (VSDP), have short-term disability coverage with up to six months of income protection. Under this plan, an employee remains in their position with pay that ranges from 100 percent, 80 percent, or 60 percent pay. Plan members are paid at these percentages during the six-month period depending on their length of service. There is a seven-calendar-day waiting period before short-term disability goes into effect. Employees may use available applicable leave during the waiting period.

Initiating a disability claim: 

• Alight is the third-party administrator for the VSDP. Alight works with the employee's doctor to determine whether or not the employee qualifies for disability benefits. To file a short-term disability claim, contact the Alight at 877-928-7021.

Classified Employees on the Traditional Sick Leave Plan:

• Employees on the traditional sick leave plan (sick leave accrual) do not have any short-term disability benefits. They will need to apply for FMLA and use their applicable leave balances.

Faculty Plans

Regular Faculty (12-month and academic year): 

• Faculty hired after Sept. 1, 1981, and those prior to that date who opted to participate in the 26 weeks sick leave plan.
• All regular faculty members have immediate protection of 26 weeks (1,040 hours) of sick leave. Upon returning from sick leave, 26 weeks of leave begins to accrue at the rate of one week of sick leave for each two weeks of full-time work. Employees do not earn/accrue sick leave for any pay period during which sick leave has been used.
  

Restricted Faculty (12-month and academic year):

• All restricted faculty members who are not enrolled in the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program (VSDP) are covered under a short-term disability plan administered by the Standard Insurance Company.
• The Standard short-term disability plan allows employees who are on approved short-term disability leave to collect up to 60 percent of their regular salary for up to six months, after the initial seven-day waiting period. Employees who are still considered disabled after six months will transition into the Standard long-term disability plan.
  

This link contains instructions on how to file a short-term disability claim.

Long-term Disability

Faculty

The faculty long-term disability plan is administered by the Standard Insurance Company.

• Faculty who choose the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP) are automatically enrolled in the Standard Insurance Company long-term disability plan.
• Faculty who choose the Virginia Retirement System (VRS) as their retirement plan will need to choose either:
  • The faculty sick leave plan and the Standard Insurance Company long-term disability plan.
  • Or the Virginia Sickness and Disability Plan.

The Standard Insurance Company long-term disability program provides 60 percent of the income at the time of the disability after a six-month waiting period. The 60 percent may not exceed $20,000 per month. Benefits from the program are offset by any disability benefits from Social Security. Should Social Security provide the 60 percent of benefits, the Standard Insurance Company plan would still pay $100 per month. Any long-term disability benefits received from Standard are not taxable as the faculty member pays the premium. The premium is calculated at the rate of 0.118 percent of covered salary for the disability portion (income replacement) and 0.064 percent of covered salary for the annuity portion (continued retirement contribution).

Once approved for long-term disability benefits, the Standard Insurance Company will contribute 10.4 percent for Plan I or 8.5 percent for Plan II of an employee's pay at the time of the disability into a retirement account. Once the long-term disability benefits cease at age 65 or if an employee is no longer disabled, the employee can access the retirement account for regular retirement benefits.

If the disability begins after the age of 60, long-term disability benefits are paid for a maximum of five years. If the disability begins between the ages of 65 and 68, benefits are paid to age 70. If the disability begins at age 69 or older, benefits are paid for one year. 

Classified and University Staff VSDP sick plan

After six months of short-term disability, if approved, an employee will transition into long-term disability. The employee will receive 60 percent of their salary until they return to work or reach age 65.

If the disability begins at age 60 or older, an employee will receive a total of five years short- and long-term disability. An employee will be considered inactive on the Virginia Tech payroll and their position can be filled. The employee will continue to receive credit for Virginia Retirement System, continuing life insurance at no cost, and they may choose to continue health insurance by paying the full premium amount. A health insurance credit of $120 per month is available to help with the cost of health insurance.

Learn more about short- and long-term disability under the Virginia Sickness and Disability Program.

Classified Staff on the traditional sick plan

After six months of leave, classified staff will need to apply for VRS Disability Retirement. If possible, applications should be started at least three months before transition to long-term disability.