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 are called to or volunteer for active military duty, the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) protects your employment and benefit rights, provided you meet the eligibility requirements set forth by law. Visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s website to learn more about USERRA.

Service Credit

When you return from military leave, you may be eligible to receive credit in MOSERS for your active-duty military service. This service will be used in determining the amount of and your eligibility for a retirement benefit.

To be eligible for military service credit, you must:

Have been employed by the state immediately prior to entering the armed forces.
Return to state employment within the timeframe specified by USERRA as shown in the chart below.
Provide MOSERS with a copy of your honorable discharge and your military DD214 form or other pertinent documentation.
Meet any other requirements under USERRA.

Length of Service	When You Must Report/Apply for State Employment
1-30 Days	Report for work by the beginning of the first regularly scheduled workday that falls 8 hours after you return home. If timely reporting is impossible or unreasonable through no fault of your own, you must report to work as soon as possible.
31-180 Days	Submit an application for reemployment no later than 14 days after completing military service. If submission of a timely application is impossible or unreasonable through no fault of your own, the application must be submitted as soon as possible.
180+ Days	You must submit an application for reemployment no later than 90 days after completing military service.
Service-Connected Injury or Illness	The reporting and application deadlines described above will be extended up to 2 years if you are hospitalized or convalescing due to a service-connected injury or illness. If timely reporting within the 2-year period is impossible or unreasonable due to circumstances beyond your control, the period is extended by the minimum time required to accommodate those circumstances.

Life Insurance

When you leave for military service, you may keep your basic, optional, and dependent life insurance coverage for the duration of deployment by paying the required premiums. During this time, you will be billed for the monthly premiums. If you die while you are on active military duty and a life insurance benefit is payable, the life insurance benefit will be paid to your designated beneficiary(ies) on file with MOSERS.

Dependent/Spouse Coverage

To retain child coverage, you must keep your basic life coverage; to retain spouse coverage, you must keep your optional life coverage. The premiums for dependent coverage are included in your monthly billing. If you elect to continue coverage while on an approved leave of absence, you will receive a direct bill statement each month for the premiums. Your life insurance will end on the last day of the pay period in which you pay the required premium.

If you would like to pay online with your checking or savings account, log in to myMOSERS and select E-Pay, then Wallet from the menu. Next, add your bank account information, including routing number and account number. Then select the box to Use this account for Auto-Payments and click Save.

Long-Term Disability

When you leave for military service, you may keep your long-term disability (LTD) coverage for up to one year by paying the required premiums. During this time, you will be billed for the monthly premiums. You will not be covered for any long-term disability caused or contributed to by war or any act of war. War means declared or undeclared war, whether civil or international, and any substantial armed conflict between organized forces of a military nature.

Your LTD coverage will end at the earliest of the following events:

The last day of the pay period in which you pay the required premium.
The last day of the pay period coinciding with one year from your last day at work.

If you decide to cancel your MOSERS life insurance and/or LTD coverage, it will be reinstated if you return to work for the state in a benefit-eligible position within the timeframe specified by USERRA guidelines.

Survivor Benefits

If you are vested and die prior to retirement, a survivor benefit will be paid to your eligible spouse or child(ren). This applies to members who are actively employed, on a leave of absence, or no longer working for the state.

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.