What If I Get Sick? Sick Leave, and Short-term and Long-term Disability Leaves

By Diane Walsh, Member-At-Large

Sick leave and disability leave provisions in the Collective Agreement help protect KFA members’ rights and serve to ensure people are treated fairly throughout their employment, including during difficult times such as illness.

Our Collective Agreement has a number of provisions that deal with sick leave and disability leaves. (Note: KPU is a part of a consortium of colleges and universities that act together to provide benefit coverage in the Post-Secondary system.) This KFActs article will look at how sick leaves work for regular and non-regular faculty members including those members who are over 65 years of age.

Sick Leave

All regular and NR2 faculty members, including post-65 members, have up to 30 calendar days paid sick leave as detailed under article 15.06(a). These days are paid at full salary and benefits, and faculty members are not expected to make up or reschedule classes or other accountable time activities missed. Different departments have different practices regarding replacement and substitution, so please consult with your chair and/or dean.

The Employer can request a certificate from a medical practitioner to confirm you do need the 30 days of sick leave. Health and Benefits is currently requiring faculty to bring specific documents to their doctor to complete. This process is currently in dispute, but the KFA recommends following this requirement from Health and Benefits to save you the expense of multiple visits to the doctor to document your illness. Any costs associated with completing this paperwork must be paid by the faculty member. This 30-day period is a continuous calendar period including weekends and stat holidays.

It is very important that if you suspect your illness or injury will necessitate you being away for more than 30 days, you should begin the application process for short-term disability as early as possible by contacting Health and Benefits. If it turns out you do not need the short-term disability benefits, there’s no harm done, and if it turns out that you do need the benefits, everything can proceed smoothly for you with no potential disruption in pay.

If you become ill during your vacation, you are able to carry forward your vacation days when you return.

Sick leave for NR1 faculty members

This is different from sick leave for regular and NR2 members, and is covered under 15.07. There is a specific fund established to cover NR1 faculty sick leave, and members can use this fund to cover sick leave up to 30 calendar days. The sticking point is that the fund is first come, first served and if the fund is exhausted, no further funds are available to cover sick leave for NR1 faculty members during that fiscal year. When you are sick, you must notify the dean’s office, and they should be able to explain how to access these benefits. If you have any problems, contact the KFA for assistance.

Short-term disability

All regular and NR2 faculty members, including members between 65 and 70 years of age, are eligible for short-term disability coverage. Short-term disability benefits cover illnesses or injuries that require a recovery period of more than 30 days and up to 21 weeks away from work.

Transition from sick leave to short-term disability: Short-term disability benefits require an application process, and the sooner you start this, the better. When you first become sick or injured, and if there is any chance the illness or injury may require a period of leave longer than 30 days, we recommend you start the application process for short-term disability leave by contacting Health and Benefits after the first week of your illness. This will help ensure a smooth transition to short-term disability benefits You will receive an application to Manulife for yourself and for your doctor to complete. These forms need to be returned directly to Manulife and not to Health & Benefits.

As part of this transition, you should be paired with a KFA-appointed faculty representative from the Faculty Joint Rehabilitation Committee (FJRC). Your faculty representative can help you through the Manulife application process, and it’s important to connect with your rep as soon as possible. If you are not paired with a faculty rep, please contact Rachelle Hollaway, co-chair of the FJRC. Further details about short-term disability are covered in “KFActs: Accommodations, Short-Term Disability, and Manulife.”

Health and Benefits has additional details on SharePoint.

During short-term disability, salary is covered up to 70% of the member’s normal remuneration, and health and welfare benefits continue unchanged. FTE service continues to accumulate as normal, too. Your pension contributions continue as if you are not on a leave.

An important note is that the faculty member must be under the care of a licensed medical practitioner during short-term disability leave, and this treatment provider must provide a diagnosis to Manulife.

The maximum end point for being able to claim short-term disability benefits is age 70. If a member has a short-term disability claim in effect as of their 70th birthday, benefits continue only until the end of their birthday month. For example, if someone takes 30 days of sick leave on March 1, applies for STD coverage and is approved, and then turns 70 on April 25, STD coverage will end on April 30.

Exclusions and limitations: There are specific exclusions and specific limitations to benefits. According to the Manulife booklet,

No benefit shall be payable for:

• a disability resulting from substance abuse, including alcoholism and drug addiction, unless you are participating in a recognized substance withdrawal program;
• a disability resulting from participation in the commission of a criminal offense;
  the portion of a period of disability during which you are imprisoned in a penal institution.

The short term disability plan does not cover a disability or illness resulting from:

• war, insurrection, rebellion, or service in the Armed Forces of any country after the commencement of this plan;
• voluntary participation in a riot or civil commotion except while you are in the course of performing the duties of your regular occupation

Third-party liability: If the leave is due to an injury involving third-party liability, such as an automobile accident, the pay received is repayable to the Employer upon receipt of a settlement.

If you are denied short-term disability by Manulife, reach out to your Faculty Rehabilitation Committee Rep or the KFA as soon as possible. Your Union rep will help you with the appeals process with Manulife. Unfortunately, it can be common for insurance companies to deny coverage, but there is an appeal process that is often successful. We strongly urge you to undertake the appeals process despite the bureaucratic burden. If you are too ill, you can also apply for EI sick leave benefits and then file an appeal with Manulife when you recover. If the appeal with ML is successful, you will receive any difference in salary between the two benefit providers.

Long-term disability

All regular and NR2 faculty members, excluding members past the age of 65, are eligible for long-term disability coverage. If the illness of disability lasts longer than the 21 weeks of short-term disability coverage, the faculty member enters into the provisions of long-term disability.

During long-term disability, salary is covered up to 70%, and like short-term disability, FTE accrual and health and welfare benefits continue unchanged. Your pension contributions continue as if you are not on a leave. The maximum end point for long-term disability payments is age 65 or earlier, if you retire before 65.

Eligibility: Under the terms of this plan, there are a couple of additional wrinkles around eligibility. To remain eligible, one must be considered to be unable to return to work in your original occupation for a period from the qualifying period plus 2 years. After this 2 year period, “your ability by reason of education, training or experience to perform the duties of a gainful occupation for which the rate of pay is not less than 75% of the current rate of pay of your regular occupation at the date of disability will not be considered totally disabled and will therefore not be eligible for benefits under this long term disability plan.” Also, a member must be a resident in Canada. The benefits booklet states:

“No benefits are payable if you reside outside Canada for any period exceeding 90 consecutive days or a total of 180 days in any 365 day period, unless:

1. you have previously notified and received approval in writing from Manulife Financial; and
2. you remain under the regular care of a licensed physician deemed appropriate by Manulife Financial; and
3. proof of the ongoing disability can be determined on evidence satisfactory to Manulife Financial in English or French within 30 days of request.”

Pension and short- and long-term disability

From the College Pension Plan: “If your long-term disability benefits are provided by a group disability plan approved for pension purposes, you will continue to accumulate pensionable and contributory service while you are away from work. In this case, you do not need to buy [back] service.” You also continue to accumulate pensionable and contributory service during a 30-day sick leave and short-term disability leave.

If you have any questions or comments about this article or this topic, please contact the KFA.

Updated March 2025