Leave of Absence

A leave of absence may affect your MOSERS benefits. It is important for your employer to notify MOSERS of any valid leave of absence in order for you to receive correct salary and service credit.

Approved Leave & Service Credit

An approved leave of absence does not guarantee that you will receive credited service for the period of time on leave. You will, however, continue to earn service if your agency approves one of the following types of leave:

  • Leave of absence due to illness or injury for yourself (up to 12 months)
  • Leave of absence for military service or training
  • Leave of absence eligible under the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA)

Approved Leave & Your Benefits

  • You may keep your basic life, optional life, and long-term disability (LTD) insurance coverage for up to one year while on leave. We will bill you for the premiums. We refer to this as “direct bill”.
  • If you are on a leave of absence and on direct bill, you must retain basic life coverage in order to keep child coverage. You must retain optional life insurance coverage in order to keep spouse coverage.
  • If you cancel your optional life insurance coverage while on a leave of absence, we will reinstate the same level of coverage when you return to work in a MOSERS benefit-eligible position.

Workers’ Compensation

As a state employee, you may receive workers’ compensation for injuries and illnesses arising out of and in the course of your employment. Benefits can include:

  • Medical care
  • Payment based on lost wages
  • Physical therapy

Long-Term Disability (LTD) Insurance

LTD insurance provides partial income replacement in the event you become disabled. It helps bridge the gap from your date of disability to your recovery or retirement, whichever comes first.

The Workplace Possibilities Program
A Possible Alternative to LTD

The Standard Insurance Company offers the Workplace Possibilities Program to help employees who may be having difficulty doing their job due to a medical condition. The program offers consultations that may lead to providing accommodations or services to promote a healthier work place. Contact your human resources representative who can provide you with information explaining the Workplace Possibilities Program.

Family Medical Leave

Talk to your human resources office for information. Here is the basic information:

  • You can earn up to 12 weeks of service credit while on family medical leave.
  • You may continue your basic life, optional life, and long-term disability (LTD) insurance coverage for up to one year. You have to pay the premiums.

Military Leave

  • If you return to work and submit a valid DD-214 form showing you were honorably discharged, you can earn credited service for active-duty military leave.
  • You may continue your basic and optional life insurance coverage for the duration of deployment if you pay the premiums.
  • You may continue your long-term disability (LTD) coverage for up to one year if you pay the premiums.

Layoffs

A "layoff" occurs when a department lays off an employee by reason of a shortage of work or funds, the abolition of the position, or other material change in the duties or the organization, or for other related reasons, which are outside the employee's control.

    • This definition is intended to include any instance where the employer eliminates a position due to the above reasons, regardless of the term (i.e. layoff, furlough, reduction in workforce, etc., which are all considered a leave of absence).
    • Employers should submit a leave of absence form to MOSERS indicating layoff status.
    • An employee does not earn service or salary credit during a layoff period. However, an employee in their BackDROP period can continue to work toward BackDROP eligibility while on an approved leave of absence.
    • After twelve months on layoff status, the employee is automatically terminated and MOSERS group life and long-term disability insurance coverage ends.

Review the Impact of a Layoff on MOSERS Benefits for more information.