Life & Work Events

Disability - Academic Employees

To Apply for Short-Term disability (STD) Leave:

Contact your departmental administrator to arrange for approval of your leave and to find out how your benefits will be affected during your leave.

  • To find out what you need to do to request unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act, visit Leave of Absence.
To Apply for Long-Term Disability (LTD) leave:

Contact the Benefits Analyst - Leave Programs in Benefits (leaveadministration@uchicago.edu) as soon as possible during your short-term leave to complete the required paperwork for Long-Term Disability Leave.  The University of Chicago has contracted with Sun Life as the carrier for Long-Term Disability benefits.

Complete the Sun Life Long-Term Disability application, have your doctor complete the physician's section, and submit the application to the Absence Management Coordinator in Benefits. Sun Life determines your eligibility for LTD benefits.

If Sun Life approves your application, your LTD benefits will begin after three months of continuous disability.

To Return From Disability Leave:

Notify your departmental administrator and the Benefits Analyst - Leave Programs in Benefits (leaveadministration@uchicago.edu) of the date you will be returning to work, and provide a statement from your doctor, saying you are fully able to return to work.