Short-term Disability Plan

Short-term disability benefits provide wage replacement for up to 26 weeks if you are not able to work due to a qualified medical condition. If you are absent from work for more than seven (7) consecutive calendar days due to a medical condition, including pregnancy, you may qualify for short-term disability benefits.

During your first year of employment, you are eligible to receive your full pay for the duration of a disability up to a maximum of 4 weeks certified by your physician and subject to approval of the short-term disability carrier. If the disability is longer than four weeks, you may qualify for a benefit paid directly by the short term disability carrier, which is equal to the New York State disability benefit amount of 50 per cent of your weekly pay up to a maximum of $170 per week.

If you have one or more years of service, you are eligible to receive your full pay for the duration of a disability up to a maximum of 26 weeks certified by your physician and subject to approval of the short-term disability carrier. 

Your wage replacement amount shall not exceed your base rate of pay. Any payments received directly from the short-term disability carrier shall be offset against your university paid wage replacement.

Any short-term disability leave will run concurrently with leave qualified under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) if eligible. For more information or to apply for short-term disability benefits, contact the Benefits Department at 212.229.5671 x4949.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) 

FMLA entitles an eligible employee to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid job-protected leave for the following reasons:

• For incapacity due to pregnancy or prenatal medical care
• To care for the employee’s child after birth, or placement for adoption or foster care* 
• For a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform his or her job**
• To care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent with a serious health condition
• Due to a qualifying exigency if the spouse, child, or parent of an employee is in the National Guard or Reserves or of a regular component of the Armed Forces and on covered active duty or called to covered active duty

• For a military care giver leave, also known as a "covered servicemember leave", to care for an injured or ill service member or veteran who is the spouse, child, parent, or next of kin of the employee.  An employee may take up to 26 weeks in a single 12-month period for this purpose.

Please refer to The New School's FMLA policy for detailed information. If you have questions or need additional information regarding the FMLA, contact the Benefits Department at 212.229.5671 x4942 or visit www.dol.gov/whd/fmla/index.htm. You may also view the U.S. Department of Labor's FMLA poster for related information.

Employee Eligibility

The minimum requirements for an employee to be eligible for FMLA are:

• The employee has 12 months or 52 weeks of service with The New School
• The employee has worked for The New School for at least 1,250 hours in the 12-month period immediately before commencement of the leave
• The employee is employed at a work site where 50 or more employees are employed by The New School within 75 miles of the work site

Employee Notice

All employees requesting FMLA leave must provide verbal or written notice of the need for the leave by contacting the university’s Benefits Department at benefitshelp@newschool.edu or by calling 212-229-5671 x4942.

When the need for a leave is foreseeable, the employee must provide the university with at least 30 days notice. If an employee becomes aware of a need to take FMLA leave less than 30 days before the leave would commence, the employee must provide notice of the need for the leave either the same day or the next business day after becoming aware of it. When the need for FMLA leave is not foreseeable, the employee must comply with The New School’s usual and customary notice and procedural requirements for requesting leave, absent unusual circumstances.

Pay and Benefits

FMLA leave is unpaid. However, other types of leaves, such as disability for an employee’s own serious health condition or the birth of a child may provide income replacement and run concurrently with FMLA and be designated as FMLA leave. An employee may choose to use accrued vacation days and/or accrued floating holidays in order to be paid during all or a portion of a leave that otherwise would be unpaid. 

An employee’s health and dental coverage will be maintained during FMLA leave under the same conditions as if the employee had continued to work and an employee must continue to pay the portion he or she normally pays toward the medical and dental benefits premium. During paid FMLA, the premiums will be deducted from the employee's pay as usual. During an unpaid FMLA leave the required premium continues to be payable and the Benefits Department will provide notification as to how to make payments and when payments are due.

Returning to Work

A  fitness-for-duty certification from a doctor must be provided as least two weeks prior to the scheduled date of return. If receipt of certification is not timely, the employee’s return to work may be delayed. Generally, an employee who takes FMLA leave will be able to return to the same position or a position with equivalent status, pay, benefits, and other employment terms. The position will be the same or one virtually identical in terms of pay, benefits, and working conditions. The New School may choose to exempt certain key employees from this requirement and not return them to the same or a similar position.

Long Term Disability Plan

The New School provides a Long Term Disability Plan (LTD) through the Standard Life Insurance Company of New York. This benefit is entirely paid for by the university. Coverage under the LTD Plan begins the first of the month following three (3) months of continuous employment dated from the day the employee began working in a position eligible for benefits.

If you are disabled for at least six (6) months, you are eligible to file a claim for LTD Plan benefits. The total LTD benefit is equal to 60 percent of your monthly base earnings in effect at the onset of the disability, up to a monthly maximum of $7,500, less benefits from other sources such as Social Security, Workers' Compensation or any other benefit amounts that are payable for disability under any other group insurance coverage. Once LTD Plan benefits begin, your employment with The New School will end and you will be eligible to apply for COBRA Continuation Coverage for Health Care Plan and Dental Care Plan coverage and the Health Care Flexible Spending Account (if enrolled).

The LTD benefit durations are as follows:

For more information about the LTD plan, refer to the Long Term Disability Certificate and Summary Plan Description.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance

Workers’ Compensation Insurance provides cash benefits and/or coverage for medical care provided to employees who are injured or become ill as a direct result of their job with The New School. You must notify your supervisor and contact the Security Office to file an incident report about the injury and how it occurred as soon as possible. Failure to file an incident report in writing within 30 days after the incident may cause you to lose the right to Workers’ Compensation benefits. Incident reports are available at all security guard desks.  Employees who qualify for Workers’ Compensation benefits will receive pay continuation according to the requirements of the state law and our insurance plan.