December 12, 2005
Dear Sxxxxxs PG (U.S.) employee:
The Short-Term
Disability (STD) program for salaried and hourly employees is changing as of
January 1, 2006.
The STD Program
provides important financial protection when you are disabled for up to 26
weeks. The program continues a portion of your income during disability and
also puts you in touch with resources to facilitate your recovery and return to
work.
The change is part
of Sxxxxxs STD Program consolidation and is
consistent with Sxxxxxs benefits philosophy to make
the most of our collective strength and gain greater efficiency by streamlining
administrative tasks. In the past, Sxxxxxs
This announcement
summarizes the highlights of your STD program. No action is required as a
result of the change. STD coverage takes effect automatically, at no additional
benefit cost to you.
How the program
works
When you are out of
work for more than seven calendar days due to health reasons, short-term
disability allows you to continue a portion of your base pay during the first
26 weeks of a disability. Overtime, bonuses, commissions and any incentive
compensation do not count toward determining the STD benefit.
The first week
(seven calendar days) of disability absence will be covered by your local sick
time benefits. In general, for salaried employees, this means that the first
seven days will be paid at 100%. Hourly employees can use any sick and vacation
days to cover pay for the first seven days. Beginning on the eighth calendar
day of disability absence, the STD program continues 90% of your regular pay
for weeks 2-7 of your disability, and 66-2/3% of your regular weekly pay for
weeks 8-26.
STD
benefits end when you are able to return to work, or after 26 weeks of disability whichever is sooner. For disabilities
that extend beyond 26 weeks, long-term disability (LTD) and Social Security
benefits may apply.
If you are
disabled
If illness or injury
prevents you from coming to work, contact your supervisor immediately. Keep you
supervisor and your Health Services representative (or local Human Resources
representative) informed of your recovery. As soon as it appears that your
disability absence will extend beyond seven calendar days, you must contact MetLife at 800-###-#### to receive
STD benefits. During the process, it will be your responsibility to sign
a release of medical information so that your doctor can provide MetLife with
the information they need to address your claim. Delays in this process could
result in a loss or delay of disability pay benefits.
Help returning to
work
If you become
disabled as a result of a non-work related injury, a clinical resource from
MetLife will work with you and your physician to determine a return-to-work
date.
The MetLife
professional may suggest a partial return to work during your recovery, with
modified responsibilities. If you are medically cleared and able to return to
work in some capacity while still partially disabled, you will receive your
normal earnings for the time you are actually at work. You will continue to
receive STD benefits for the time you cannot work.
More information
coming soon
You will receive a
summary plan description in 2006 that provides details about the STD program.
In the meantime, if you have questions about how the program works, please
click here for further
details or contact your local Human Resources representative.
The STD program
provides not only financial protection when you need it most, but also peace of
mind today. I am pleased that Sxxxxxs PG is able to
provide STD benefits as part of your comprehensive benefits package from Sxxxxxs
Xxxxx Xxxxxxx,
Vice President,
Human Resources