The short-term disability plan is designed to protect your income if you are unable to work due to illness, injury or pregnancy.  There are different short-term disability benefits for salaried and hourly employees. 

Benefit Amount
If you are unable to work due to illness, injury or pregnancy, the short-term disability plan continues up to 100% of your Pay for up to six months of your disability.

“Pay” is defined in the Glossary.
The benefit amount and period of benefits you receive depends on your length of service.

Salaried Employees

• If you have six months of Company Service or more, you will receive 100% of Pay for six months.
• If you have between one and six months of Company Service, you will receive 100% of Pay for each completed month of service.

Hourly Employees

• Payment will be at 100% of straight time earnings, following a three (3) consecutive work day waiting period for non-occupational disability pay in accordance with the eligibility schedule contained in the current contract for bargaining unit employees. 
• Eligibility schedule for employees offered and hired after June 22, 2004, will be in accordance with the following schedule:

Company Service	Maximum Payment Weeks
> 3 months but < 6 months	1
> 6 months but <1 year	2
> 1 year but < 2 years	4
> 2 years but < 3 years	6
> 3 years but < 4 years	8
> 4 years but < 5 years	10
> 5 years but < 6 years	12
> 6 years but < 7 years	14
> 7 years but < 8 years	16
> 8 years but < 9 years	18
> 9 years but < 10 years	20
Over 10 years	26

No payments will be made for the first three (3) consecutive work days of the absence for any non-occupational disability, unless such period of disability extends beyond fifteen (15) consecutive scheduled work days.  Certification by a licensed practicing physician is required.  If an employee is admitted to the hospital as an in-patient or receives treatment as a day surgery patient during the first three (3) waiting days of a certified non-occupational disability absence, the remaining day(s) of the three (3) day waiting period will be waived.

Plan benefits will be reduced by income benefits you are eligible to receive from other sources because of your disability, such as workers’ compensation, the Occupational Disease Act, or the disability laws of any state.

If your absence extends beyond six months, benefits may become payable from the Company’s long-term disability plan.

 

Successive Disabilities
Periods of disability are treated as separate periods if they are:

• due to unrelated causes and are separated by your return to active work for at least eight consecutive Hours of Work

or

• due to related causes and are separated by a return to active work of at least 520 Hours of Work or three calendar months, whichever is longer.

“Hour of Work” is defined in the Glossary.

 

Claiming Short-Term Disability Benefits
If you are unable to come to work because of a qualifying absence, in order to receive benefits, you must furnish periodic medical evidence of your illness or injury if requested by the Company.

The Company reserves the right to confirm your disability with a physician and/or require a written statement from your attending physician at any time during your absence.  Upon return to work, the Company may require a physician’s statement indicating your fitness to resume normal work duties.

In addition, during your disability, you may be required to undergo periodic evaluations by your site’s Health Services Department in order for the Company to determine if you are able to return to light duty.  If the Health Services Department and your physician determine that you are able to return to light duty, and you do not return to work for light duty, benefits for short-term disability will end.

 

When Short-Term Disability Benefits End
Benefits for any absence will end on the first of the following days:

• when you return to work
• when you do not provide requested satisfactory evidence of your continuing illness or injury
• when you do not return to work for light duty if you are able
• when you have received the maximum number of benefit payments.