Leave of absence

cxc

I'm looking for some suggested language to add to an employee manual to address the situation in which an employee is off work for an extended period of time, i.e. over one year. We would like to provide that one's employment will be deemed terminated if the employee does not return to work after a period of one year. At present, I have a client who has two employees who have been out on long term disability for over a year. We are still paying benefits and would like to sever the relationship. Thanks.

dhnyct

Under what situations would someone on leave qualify for continued employee rights for a year?

cxc

Good question. The request arises out of a situation in which two employees have been on long term disability. The company wants to be able to say that if you are on long term disability for in excess of one year, your employment terminates.

CuriousG

Your post is a little short on details. Do you have a Long Term Disability Insurance plan? What do the SPD's for your other employee benefit plans say about long term disability situations? Do you have a defined benefit pension plan that allows employees on LTD to continue to accrue benefit service credit under your benefit formula?

These are all questions you need to consider before you define a policy like the one you describe. You may already have conflicting obligations under various benefit plans that would preclude you from terminating the employee on LTD for a year or more.